


Love Story in Progress

by whatisreggieshortfor



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:53:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 37,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27263785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatisreggieshortfor/pseuds/whatisreggieshortfor
Summary: A girl with severe social anxiety is forced to move across the country with her family. She becomes friends with her neighbor, and after befriending his band, she accidentally joins them to perform at Battle of the Bands.





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter One  
I have crashed landed. I do not recognize my surroundings, but I recognize the beings that fill the space. I am scanning to observe the area. I see hostiles everywhere I turn. One final search and I find a safe haven. Marcus.  
I probably should mention, I am not some alien or extra-terrestrial being. I am going into my senior year of high school. At a new school I am unfamiliar with. My next door neighbor is Marcus Gabriels. He has agreed to show me around so I don’t get stuck following one of the honor student tour guides. Nothing against them, they probably do it for bonus points or something, I have just been through it 6 times and I know that these preppy know-it-alls cannot stand being followed around by a five foot four shadow of darkness that can’t keep their skateboard off the ground for more than five minutes.  
Marcus is fairly easy to spot amidst the clusters of cheerleaders, drama geeks, and jocks. After all, he is freakishly tall, measuring in at six foot three, and he is with the Mathletes, as so noticed by their jean jackets that have it printed across the back with graffiti paint. I walk over, and I think his friends are a bit intimidated by the black abyss that has just approached them. At least they are when I correct a math equation a boy had just answered. Marcus chuckled and introduced me.  
“Jo, this is John, Brian, and this embarrassed little man is Thomas.”  
I wave at the boys and tell them that I am better with numbers than I am with names, and they chuckle a bit, except for Thomas, who looks like I just told him Santa Clause wasn’t real. Even though they are all sitting, I would guess they are each around six foot to six foot four, which makes them towers compared to me. Brian has shaggy brown hair and a skinny, skater frame. John has short spiked green hair, and he seems more muscular than Brian. Thomas has black hair, with the emo style bangs sweeping into his face, but it’s still pretty short compared to how that style is usually worn, and he’s somewhere between John and Brian on the muscle scale.  
Before I can apologize, Marcus says “I have to take her away now boys, you can finish staring later.” Only then did I realize they were looking at me so intently. Maybe it’s because I am five foot four and I’m wearing more black than everyone else in this school put together. Maybe it’s because I was blinding them with my pale white skin and hair. Maybe it’s because I’m a girl and they didn’t seem to have spoken to one before. Whatever the reason, I was glad to be pulled away.  
“So what is our first stop?” I ask, thinking the answer will be something obvious like the office, your locker, etc. And sure enough, Marcus says “the cafeteria.”  
He grabs my hand before I can respond and pulls me through herds of other students. Some fighting the flow, others following it. I manage to yell above the chaos, “Why are we going to the cafeteria?” To which he simply turns on his heel, smirks, and continues walking backwards. Before he turns around, I hear him say “You’ll see.”  
Turns out, it’s free period here, so when we burst through the cafeteria doors, we walk into a room that has at least 14 different cliques, each in their own space. As I’m looking around the room, I realize that Marcus disappeared. I’m scanning the groups to see which one he belongs to, other than the mathletes. As it turns out, he’s a clique-jumper. Standing there observing, I can watch him talk to the football players, the band nerds, the chess club, the Goths, everyone seems generally happy to see him. He comes over to me, whispers “You are allowed to socialize.”  
“No,” I laugh, “I’m not a people person. I’m more of a person’s person.”  
“A person’s person? Please elaborate.” He chuckles, smiling and shaking his head a bit.  
“Well, I distinctly do not like people as a whole. I may grow to like a person though.” Marcus nods his head, still laughing at me.  
“Fortunately, you have no choice but to introduce yourself, because it’s time for class.”  
Walking down to the office to get my class schedule, I’m actually watching everyone rush through the halls. There are so many people that I miss my old school in Ohio even more. I don’t understand how my parents thought that moving us from our little neighborhood in Vienna to a suburb right outside the big city of Los Angeles was going to be a good change. My brother made friends pretty quickly, but my only friend isn’t necessarily my friend, he’s our neighbor, and my parents are convinced that we’re dating even though he’s gay. My dad got transferred by this company he works for that manufactures some weird kind of body spray. The move was for a promotion and a raise, which is the only reason he took it. He is now the company’s VP.  
When we finally reach the office, Principal Grey opens the door, tells Marcus and I to take a seat, and begins launching into the usual “Our School is Amazing Because…” speech that I think every principal is legally obligated to say when someone new enters the building. I tune him out until I hear the words “I understand you are quite the poet.” My brain is screaming at me ‘Run, just run, he’ll never catch you.’ Before I can respond, he starts saying that my English teachers from my previous 7 schools have already informed him of my “Academic Accomplishments” and how “so very proud they were of me.” Because that’s what every 17 year old girl wants to hear when she is an aspiring rapper. My ‘poetry’ is good.  
The principal finally releases us, and Marcus takes a look at my Satan’s Torture List of Learning, and informs me that the classes I do not have with him, I have with Thomas from outside. Including Equations with Exponentially no Use. I mean Precalc. I feel kind of bad for correcting him earlier, so I decide to apologize when I see him in class. But first up on the list, Skin Peeling & Organ Tearing. I mean Anatomy. It’s basically the class that I was put in because I have enough science credits to graduate and I wasn’t allowed to take Physics again.  
As I walk into class, I feel something catch my foot. Next thing I know, I’m falling forward and my books are everywhere. “Walk much!” I look up at the voice to see one of the Queen Bees standing there, laughing, with her foot still extended. Marcus helps me to my feet, and I start to pick up the papers that flew across the room, when the teacher comes in.  
“What’s going on here?” He asks, looking at my papers and books scattered on the floor.  
“Sorry sir, the new girl fell, I’m helping her clean it up,” the Queen Bee says with the fakest smile I have ever seen, as she bends down to grab my notebook.  
“That’s mighty nice of you Ebony.” He says, but by the look on his face I can tell that he doesn’t believe that I fell on my own. He shifts his attention to me, “And what is your name?”  
I hate when the attention is turned to me. I stare at him, wide eyed, and can’t find the words to say even my own name. Just before I can panic enough to run from the room, Marcus comes to my rescue. “This is Jo. She just moved into my neighborhood with her family over the summer.”  
The teacher, a rather tall man with very short hair, almost military cut and posture, nodded his head, turned, and began writing today’s lesson on the board while we finished cleaning up my things. When we finally had everything together, Marcus and I made our way to the back of the classroom. I sat beside him, and he scribbled a note.  
‘Are you okay?’ I turn to him and nod. I scribble him back, asking who Ebony is. He let out a chuckle, I can tell it was louder than intended by how quickly he clamped his hand over his mouth.  
I read his note, ‘She is the ruler of the school. Football players want to date her, nerds do her homework, class president, homecoming queen, and the black hole in her chest where her heart should be.’ When I look up, she is staring at me so intensely, I can almost feel her eyes burning through, trying to see what is going on underneath the unfriendly looking exterior that is my wardrobe. We sit through the next 50 minutes of class, Mr. Harvey droning on and on about the central system. When the bell finally releases us, we move out to the hall. Out into the halls, and right into Ebony.  
“Do you have a glitch or something new girl?” She sneers at me, looking at me like I am a foreign species.  
“Excuse me?” I say quietly, I can feel the eyes turning in my direction.  
“You heard me. You can’t even give the teacher your name? Are you really that weird?”  
“Leave her alone Ebony.” This time it’s Marcus talking.  
“It doesn’t surprise me that she’s hanging out with you. You’re both total freaks. Especially by the writing in this,” she says, holding up my song notebook. “I’m surprised they haven’t prescribed her meds already.”  
I can feel myself tense up, I clench my jaw. “Give it back,” I whisper, so many people staring in my direction. I feel the blood rush to my face.  
“Or what? You’re gonna embarrass yourself?” She’s taunting me, dangling it out but knowing that I won’t fight her to get it. “Take it, I don’t want this steaming pile of crazy near me anymore.”  
She drops my notebook. I pick it up as quickly as I can and run down the hall. So many people staring at me as I rush past them. Marcus following. When he finally catches up to me, I’m sitting at the end of the bleachers in the gym and he has to catch his breath. “You shouldn’t let her screw with you like that. I mean, yeah, she’s popular, but no one likes her except, well her.”  
I flip through my pages, making sure nothing is missing. “Thank you, for standing up for me. I cannot stand the Ebony’s of the world.”  
Marcus just looks at me and grins, “Well, at least we only see her twice a day.” He takes my hand, pulls me to my feet, and reminds me that I’m going to be late for Precalc, but he’ll walk me there.  
When we finally get there, the only open seat is in the front row, next to Thomas. I slide into the chair, and before I can set my books down, the teacher has spun around and is asking me to stand up and introduce myself to the class. I force myself up, while staring at my feet, I manage a wave, and say “My name is Jo. Jo Rayve. Nice to meet you.” And try to sit back down, but she insists on me sharing a few words about myself. I draw a blank. I’m standing there staring at all these people, and I manage to mutter out “I like skateboarding and football and hate people staring at me so I’m sitting down now.” And this time, the teacher doesn’t fight me. I look at Thomas, and he gives me a little wave. I can’t tell if he is still embarrassed that I corrected him, or if he is as shy as I am. I thought about scribbling him a note to apologize, but instead I find myself writing new lyrics about a ruler of the uncool. And surprise, it’s named Ivory.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two  
While Mrs. Hart, a woman of about five foot two with very long light brown hair, is talking, I’m writing. She must think I’m taking notes because she doesn’t take my notebook away like most teachers would have. She’s rambling on about some theorem that we should use to solve some problem and saying that we’ll need to know for some random one in a million case in our lifetime, and I don’t think a single student is paying attention. I glance around the room. One student is paying attention. Thomas. He is taking notes like no one I have ever seen. I check the clock, class is almost over. I close my notebook, and she finishes rambling on with enough time to give us a homework assignment just before the bell rings and relinquishes us to the hallway traffic jam.  
I catch Thomas as he walks out the door, and tell him that I’m sorry about what happened before school and I hadn’t meant to embarrass him.  
He stares at me for a long minute, and then he speaks, “You are a hard one to figure out.” And he spins on his heel, and heads toward his next class. I stand there, pondering the only sentence he has uttered since I met him before our first class of the day. I wonder what he is thinking when he looks at me. Mostly because I didn’t think anyone thought about me when they looked at me. I always felt like they just saw a dark smudge in their life that they could ignore. On the walk to my next class, my mind is filled with words I would use to describe myself. When I get to the door, I realize that all the classrooms in the school look the same. Four walls of a brownish-tan fabric so that papers can be pinned up easily, a carpeted floor to prevent noise from traveling, three windows on the outside wall, and tables that sit two people. The only difference between the rooms is how the teachers decide to make it their own.  
My next period was my favorite. My English class. I walk in and see Marcus waving for me to see next to him. I slide into the seat and the board just has one quote scrawled across it. ‘When I saw you, I fell in love, and you smiled, because you knew.’ And a note from the teacher, challenging the class to determine who wrote it. The students that care enough to attempt to figure it out are googling the question on their phones, but by their disappointments, I can see to no avail. Mrs. Sydley walks into the classroom, she has very dark hair, but it isn’t quite black. It looks like a black board, like it’s naturally supposed to be black, but there is a lightness to it that you can’t quite explain. I am watching her walk to her desk, she’s not a very big woman, and I would guess she’s only around 36, so when she spoke, I didn’t expect her voice to be so big.  
“Can anyone answer the question?”  
Naturally, no one raises their hands. I whisper to Marcus, “William Shakespeare.” And he raises his hand, but doesn’t wait for her to pick him as a volunteer.  
“Jo says the answer is William Shakespeare.” He smiles at me with this ‘gotcha’ smile he does a lot.  
Mrs. S turns her attention to me. “You must be Jo.” I nod. “Well, my dear, I believe you know the routine by your third period of the day. But we will change it up a bit. Please stand up, everyone.” Just by looking around the room, I can tell that everyone else is as confused as I am. “We’re gonna go around the room. Use one way to describe yourself. Sing us a song, give us a few sentences, describe you any way you want to. And if you use words like ‘nice’, ‘funny’, ‘unique’, or ‘smart’ I am going to make you keep listing until you come up with one that is actually original. Starting with you John.”  
John clears his throat; he doesn’t look like your average mathlete. Although I don’t think there is really an ‘average’ version of a mathlete. I’m watching him, waiting, only to want to laugh when he decides to belt out the lyrics to “The Dork Anthem” by Dave and Brian.  
 _Check me out by the wall at the dance_  
 _Lookin’ sharp in my high-water sweatpants_  
 _I wish I was at home, where I could be blogging_  
 _And watching wrestling_

_I hang out and play Magic cards after school_   
_With all the crossing guards, they’re cool_   
_Yeah, I believe in magic_

_I was first in line to buy Halo 3_   
_On Friday night I play DnD_   
_You say I’m a dork but that’s okay_   
_I’m gonna be your boss one day_

_Check me out in the back of the class_   
_I’m day dreaming about World of Warcraft_   
_While I write dirty words on my calculator_   
_I’ll show you later_

_Even my mother picks on me_   
_I dress up when I watch Lord of the Rings_   
_Even when I’m all by myself_

_When I play dodge ball there isn’t any doubt_   
_I’ll be last picked, I’ll be the first one out_   
_You say I’m a dork but that’s okay_   
_I’m gonna be your boss one day_

_Partner up in science class with me_   
_We’ll see if there’s any chemistry_

_I don’t understand girls but I’m a fast learner_   
_Baby you’re hotter than a Bunsen burner_   
_Let’s recreate the scene from E.T._   
_Where Elliott lets the frogs go free_

_All my favorite films are in Japanese_   
_I know what it means when you say RPG_   
_You say I’m a dork but that’s okay_   
_I’m gonna be your boss one day_

As he finishes the last verse, he high fives Brian, while Marcus and I lead the class in clapping and cheering. Mrs. S appears shocked someone actually took her suggestion to sing a song, and she’s so speechless, she motions to Brian to go next.  
“I’m no singer,” he chuckles out, “but I am a pretty badass drummer.” And he pulls two drum sticks out of his back pocket, that I was unaware he had, and started banging away. Although he was only hitting text books and tables, I felt distinctly that I was hearing the beat to ‘Dance Dance’ by Fall Out Boy. When he finished, I clapped and whispered to Marcus that they should form a band, his look of confusion quickly changed to one of understanding as he whispered back, “They are a band. Their name is ‘The Mathletes’.” I didn’t know what to say because I was distracted by a girl trying to tap dance so all I could muster up was an “Oh.”  
After making her way around the rest of the room, she finally got to our table. She looked at Marcus. “Your turn.” To which he laughed and said “Well this isn’t fair, I was gonna sing.” As he made his way to the front of the room, “But I guess I’m more hip hop anyway.” And I had never seen a six foot tall man break into beat box while trying to do the Carlton, but now I have. I was laughing harder than I had all day, until I realized that it was my turn. Everyone turned to stare at me. I froze.  
“Don’t be shy, Jo. I’ve heard about you.” Mrs. S says, smile plastered on her face.  
‘No! No you haven’t!’ I’m screaming in my head, wide eyed. Terrified to even move. ‘You think you’ve heard about me.’ I open my mouth, but nothing wants to come out. I bolt out of the room. I keep running, until next thing I know, I’m flat on my butt, staring at a door that I hadn’t realized was open . It’s the janitor’s closet. I dip into the closet, pull the door shut, and hide.  
I’m just sitting on the floor rocking back and floor, holding back tears and clutching my skateboard to my chest. The one thing that’s been keeping me grounded through this nauseating first day of school. After what feels like hours, I check my phone. I have a text from Marcus. I’ve been gone for 15 minutes and class will be ending any minute. I decide I should go back. I slowly creep out of the closet, there is no one in the halls, so I leave and walk back toward my English class. Hoping she won’t ask me to speak. I get back to the door as the bell rings, I grab my books and glance up to see that Marcus has worry written all over his face. Literally written all over his face, with a green magic marker. I point at his face, as if the pointing will say ‘Why do have words scrawled all over you?’ And he takes the hint.  
“The teacher felt bad when you ran away. I told her about your anxiety, after she pulled me into the hall at least, and she let me tell everyone about you, since we hung out all summer after you moved here.” As he’s explaining, I realize that we are heading to lunch. And when I realized that, I realize how empty my stomach is since I was so nervous I had to skip breakfast. “John said I was worrying too much, and every time I said I wasn’t worrying, he wrote it on me.”  
I couldn’t help but to laugh. “Why did you keep saying it?”  
“To make him run out of room.” He smirked. “Come on, you can sit with us at lunch. It’s only 5 people, including myself.” He can tell I look uneasy, biting my bottom lip and pulling at my sleeves, but we swing by our lockers, I throw in my books and my skateboard, and he drags me off to the cafeteria. Today is hamburgers.  
As soon as the doors open, my nostrils become filled with the strongest smell of beef I have ever experienced. If I were in a cartoon, you could see the odor lines coming off the trays. I am so full of the scent that I can barely breath while Marcus drags me to the lunch line. As we move single file, through the line, past the register, I am astounded as to how a school can serve something called “Mystery Burger” as an alternative to the hamburger, for those vegetarian few. It looks like a sickly green version of a “Pretty Patty” from SpongeBob Squarepants, and just as water logged. I settle for the equally disgusting smelling hamburger and fries, and stop at the pop machine on my way to the table. I need a caffeine fix. When we sit down, Brian and Damon wave, John looks at me, and faster than I could get the word hi out of my mouth, it’s like the words are tripping over his tongue and he’s gonna explode if he doesn’t get them out. “Why’d you run out of English?”  
“I don’t like people staring at me,” I whisper, fully conscious of the eyes watching from all directions, “because after all, I am the new freak in town.”  
“So I hear you write.” This time it’s Thomas. I nod at him, clutching my notebook under my tray. “Do you mind if I read what you wrote in Precalc?”  
“Umm, sure, I guess.”  
He takes my notebook, looks through until he finds Ivory, and after a couple minutes, I hear the words “You don’t write poetry do you?” I stare at him. “I would bet that everyone assumes it is, but just from reading it, I can feel a flow coming off the pages.”  
I’m floored by his words. “No one has ever realized that before. How did you know?”  
Marcus starts laughing. “It’s not a question as whether Thomas can recognize lyrics. It’s a question as to how quickly he notices. That’s why he’s the band’s song writer.”  
“But we’ve never had music anywhere near this good, no offense buddy,” John says, taking my notebook from Thomas, “Did you really write all of these yourself?”  
I nod. “My English teachers would excuse me from class to sit and write and they would submit my writing to contests under a pen name to win money for the school.”  
“What was the name?”  
“Paisley Charles.”  
Thomas is staring at me so intently, his jaw clenching, “What school was this from?”  
“Mostly South Western in Ohio, why?”  
Before saying another word, he gets up, and stomps away from the table. I turn to look at John and Marcus, hoping for some kind of explanation, they look at each other, and John says “Wasn’t that the one who-“  
“Yup.” Marcus says.  
“I’ll go find him.” John gets up, smiles politely and waves before running out the door to find Thomas.  
“What did I do?”  
“Not you, what you write. Some of the contests you won, you put Thomas in second place and he hates being shown up. Especially by someone he doesn’t know.” Marcus takes a bite of his burger, “Don’t worry about him,” he says, exposing the chunks of beef with each word, “he’ll calm down eventually and be right back here tomorrow.”  
I couldn’t concentrate on lunch. When the bell finally rang, I headed out the door to my locker, grabbed my books and walked to my next class. Deaths Among the Ages. I mean History. Marcus wasn’t in my class, and even though I knew it was probably a bad idea, I sat at the table beside Thomas and Brian. Brian waved and smiled and Thomas stared at the board in front of the class.  
Again the teacher had a question written on it. ‘Who was famous for saying “Let them eat cake”?’ As I did earlier, I whispered the answer to myself. Mr. Deltoro enters the room; he’s a very tall, skinny man, with short brown hair. He looks too young to be a teacher, but some people look at me and think I should be in middle school, so I just accept that he is at least 30. When he asks if anyone knows the answer, I know that Thomas is still angry with me, because after a few students get it wrong, I hear him utter, just loud enough, “The new girl knows the answer.”  
Mr. Deltoro looks at me. He looks confused, like he wasn’t expecting a new kid in class to torture. He waits, expectantly, when I open my mouth just enough to whisper “Marie Antoinette.” And face plant onto my desk. My head makes a dull thud, and I can hear Brian wince. Mr. Deltoro starts his lecture on the French Revolution or something, to be honest, I was staring at the darkness of my desk unhearing until the bell rang to go to last period. Taking the worksheet from him on my way out the door, I notice that most of it is about Marie Antoinette and her husband King Louis the Sixteenth. I stuff it in my books, and file down the hall looking for Foreign Countries that are Doing Better than America at Any Given Moment. I mean United Nations.  
As I’m walking down the hall checking door numbers, I become aware for about the zillionth time that everyone in this school looks like a movie star. There should be a rule against having too many good looking people in one place. It’s not fair to the rest of us mere mortals of average looking-ness. I chuckle to myself. Looking at these people, and considering how they see themselves and each other, it’s probably like it was for me back in Ohio. Even though I see them all as movie stars, they probably have varying degrees here, and to them some of them are losers and aren’t good looking at all. It’s something that they notice more than foreigners like I notice. After all, I’m the alien here right? This feeling hits me, of longing, of sorrow, and I realize that I miss Ohio more than I thought I did. I miss my old school. I decide that I’m going to email my friends from back home when school is over.  
Finally I reach the room, at the very end of the hall. It’s built the same way every other classroom is, except for what’s in the room. Naturally, I expected to walk in and see the same boring tables, a few flags, and the normal ‘Hang in there!’ kitten posters, or maybe a ‘You can do this! The weekend’s almost here!’, but instead, I am met with a color bomb compared to the rest of the school. The walls are cement instead of carpet and each wall is a different color. Not only are there flags hanging everywhere, but the six tables in this classroom are painted by halves. One half of each table is a different flag, and the only open spot is next to Marcus, and when I sit down, I am no longer Jo. I have become France. He is Australia. Looking around, I see Ebony is Germany, Damon was the US, the quarterback, Liam was Canada, and kids I didn’t recognize were Italy, Japan, Ireland, China, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, and Mexico.  
Mr. Miller, a man of about 50 years, walks into the room and greets everyone, and instead of giving us an assignment or asking me to speak, he starts talking about the different holidays each country experiences. The change of pace is peaceful, and I actually start to listen to what he has to say. Surprising to me, he is able to fill the 50 minute period with discussion about holidays in different cultures, not forcing any student to participate. The homework assignment, take the culture whose flag you have claimed, and dress as the culture the following day. He then releases us as the bell rings, and Marcus and I head home.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three  
After the long first day of school, I planned to go to my room to relax. After moving us cross country, my parents let me pick my room so I chose the medium sized bedroom that has the only balcony. Each room has its own bathroom, and even with three bedrooms in use, we have a guest bedroom in case family comes to visit or I invite a boy to spend the night, or my brother brings the girl he’s been hiding from us all summer over. Our mother wants to paint ‘Ray-Ray’ on my door against my various protests. And believe it or not, in the neighborhood we live in, this is called an “apartment”.  
My parents still aren’t home, so no one protests as I march right up the stairs. I flop onto my bed, contemplating telling my parents that I would rather skate off a cliff then go back to that wretched place. I’m just finishing an email to my best friend in Ohio, when I start hearing music. I open my balcony door and sit on the little patio floor outside. From Marcus’s open window, I can hear the Mathletes practicing, and I don’t know how I never noticed before. Listening, I start to make out the words. They sound so familiar but I can’t put my finger on where I’ve heard them.  
“ _You’re never gonna change our minds_  
 _We can look both ways at the same time_  
 _Look at things with an open heart_  
 _Give the revolution a brand new kick start_ ”  
Then I hear Thomas’s voice, “No, you have to have anger in your voice, like when she wrote it, it flowed so well because of the emotion behind it.” Then it hits me, he has John singing one of the old publications I had. I let out a laugh. Brian sticks his head out the window and waves for me to come down. By the look on my face he can tell I don’t want to, and I can hear John yell, “Come on Jo! Thomas isn’t mad anymore!” They start laughing and I hear *CRACK* “Ow! Not cool bro!” Laughing, I get on my feet, hop the railing to the balcony and jump down onto Marcus’s, knock on the glass door, and he lets me in, just like we’ve done all summer.  
“So, Thomas, what changed your mind? I mean, I’m pretty sure I recognized the lyrics to Mind Changer from up there.” I said, smiling and pointing to my room.  
John, Brian, and Marcus were laughing, but Thomas just looked at me attentively, and says “You are still a hard one to figure out.” Before going back to fiddling with his guitar, I see a smile flash across his lips, and it’s the most perfect smile I have ever seen. I must’ve been staring at him, because Brian elbowed me and I snapped back to reality. But not silently. When I felt the elbow, it knocked me off balance and my body toppled over, crashing into the symbols to the drum set on the way down. I looked around the room. They were all watching me, John stifling a laugh. Brian leaned over, hand out, and pulled me to my feet. I could feel the blood rush to my face, as I leaned over and reassembled the drum kit.  
Thomas is watching me, but it’s not my face he’s staring at, “Come on, the first aid kit is in the bathroom.” That’s when I noticed that my arm was sliced on the symbol on the way down to the floor. Dazed, and confused as to how I ended up on the floor, I follow him to the bathroom outside of Marcus’s music room.  
It’s a smaller bathroom than I’m used to, even smaller than my old house in Ohio, and barely fits myself, let alone the two of us. Thomas picks me up and sets me on the sink like I’m a little kid, my face must show some confusion or befuddlement because he says, “I have to clean this or it will get infected, but your sleeve is in the way.” My arm is starting to hurt the more I become aware of the injury, so he has to help me slide my outer shirt off, and I wince as the sleeve drags over the open wound. Sitting on the sink in my tank top, I look at Thomas, thinking. Before I can clamp my mouth shut, the words spill out, “Do you hate me or what?” He looks up at me, still working away at my arm.  
“I couldn’t possibly hate you. I don’t even know you.” He looks back at my arm, without saying another word, he spends another five minutes cleaning it. Then he pulls out the starch white bandage to wrap around it, it’s somewhere between gauze and an ACE bandage that you use to wrap a sprained ankle. He starts wrapping my arm, and he must feel that I’m still watching him, because he says, “You should just take a picture, it’ll last longer. Cause I’m done.” He pinned the wrap into place, got back onto his feet, and walked out the door.  
When I get back to the music room, they’re practicing. Instead of risking further embarrassment, I wave goodbye and exit through Marcus’s balcony. My arm is aching on the climb up to my room, but it’s faster than walking around his apartment to mine. I get into my room and shut the door, just as my brother, a blonde that hits about six foot, comes busting through my bedroom door.  
“Geez, jackass, could you knock?” I say, throwing a pillow at his head.  
“Oh, uh, right. Sorry.” He has a goofy anxious face, but he reaches over and knocks on the door. We share a laugh, and he continues, “So, I hear you had an issue with a girl at school today.”  
“Not really an issue, more like this chick has some kind of malfunction.”  
“Oh, well, this is gonna be awkward, but you know that girl I’ve been dating all summer?”  
I’m suddenly terrified. Afraid to even nod, I stare at my brother. Zach hasn’t always been the smartest, but he can always tell what kind of person someone is by looking at them, and that’s what I love about him. What he was suggesting was sending shivers down my spine, but what came around the corner had a heart so cold she could’ve stopped a volcano.  
“Oh hello there Jo! So nice to see you again.” Ebony said with a sneer. “I didn’t know my Zachypoo was your brother.” She leaned over and gave him the most disgusting kiss I have seen in my entire life.  
“Babe, I’ll meet you in the living room.” He said, watching me. “Okay sweetie, don’t take too long!” She said, in a sickeningly sweet tone.  
“I’m going out.” I say, and before he can stop me, I’m back out on the balcony, over the rail, and on Marcus’s balcony, knocking on the door. When the door opens, this time it’s John. “I need a hiding place. Ebony is in my house.” John holds the door open, arm up so I can walk under it and get in. The guys are staring at me, I sit on the couch and say “Pretend I’m not even here.”  
Brian looks at me confused, “We aren’t confused as to why you’re here, we’re still confused as to why your shirt’s off.”  
“Oh.” I had utterly forgotten. “When Thomas was bandaging my arm, he said my sleeves were getting in the way. So I let him wrap it up while I was in my tank top. I forgot I took it off. I think I left it in the bathroom.” I leave to retrieve my shirt, when I come back in, I’m fully clothed, and they are arguing about the song.  
“No! I’m telling you that you have to put the anger in your voice that she does when she writes it.” Thomas says to John. “If you disagree, then let’s have her show us.”  
They turn and face me. I can feel my eyes widen, “No, no, no, I can’t.”  
“Come on, please, it’s the only way we can stop the fighting.” John pleads, “I can’t take his voice in my ear anymore today.”  
“No, I really can’t, I can barely talk to you guys.”  
Brian’s expression changes from disappointment, to hope, “How about you record it with Marcus, and we run to get some pizza, that way you can feel relaxed, and they can stop fighting about how it’s supposed to go. Everybody wins.”  
I stare at my feet. “Come on, Joby.” Marcus. He always calls me that, even though I keep telling him that my name is not short for anything. It’s just Jo.  
“Fine. Give us twenty minutes, no less. I have to go grab my notebook.” I head out the front door this time, my arm is throbbing too hard to acrobat back up to my room directly. When I get there, Ebony and my brother are sitting in my room. “Get out!” I scream, and push them both out of the room. As I slam the door, I hear my brother say “But I wanted to hear you sing, you never let me hear it.” And it sends a pang of guilt through me, I always refuse, even when he found my notebook and I started getting published, but I don’t have time to worry about him right now. I search through my book bag, pull out my notebook, and change out of my black clothes. It’s warm in the music room, and I can’t wear pants and long sleeves while I sing. I opt to put on my red checkered long shorts, the kind that stop right above the knee, and I throw on a Rebel Circus off the shoulder shirt that reads ‘Tattoo Me Please’ over my tank top. I lock my bedroom door from the inside, and take my usual route to the music room, tossing my notebook down before me so I have two available hands. When I got back in the room, Marcus had set up a mic, headset, and stool.  
Shocked that I had changed my clothes, Marcus shook himself back to reality and said, “I didn’t know how you would want to do it, so you have choices. You can sit, walk, whatever you want. I’m gonna be in this booth, monitoring how it sounds. Don’t be shy, I’ll pull the blinds on the inside and you won’t even be able to see me.”  
I was more nervous than I ever had been. Yeah, I rap to myself all the time, but I have never let anyone hear me before. I took a few deep breaths, slid the headset on, cued Marcus, and went.  
“ _You’re never gonna change our minds_  
 _We can look both ways at the same time_  
 _Look at things with an open heart_  
 _Give the revolution a brand new kick start_  
 _Feel the power in our feet_  
 _We’re taking the power to the streets_  
 _You can’t change our minds_  
 _But just give us some more time_  
 _We’re gonna change yours_  
 _We’re coming knocking, knocking on your doors_  
 _Open up, I know you’re home_  
 _And I’m not leaving here alone”_  
 _I started pacing through the room, spewing the lyrics from memory. I have never had this much energy coursing through my body._  
 _“You might think we’re one in the same_  
 _But you’re gonna be shocked to lose this game_  
 _You think we’re crazy with how we speak_  
 _Just because we’re strong instead of weak?_  
 _You’ve got your crowd and I’ve got mine_  
 _We butt heads from time to time_  
 _But in the end we’re thick as thieves_  
 _In the end it doesn’t matter how you perceive_  
 _Us_  
 _We are as unstoppable as gravity_  
 _You’re as good for us as depravity_  
 _You may look down on us_  
 _But there’s just something I gotta confess_  
 _We don’t wanna be like you_  
 _Even with the bullshit you put us through_  
 _We are us and nothing’s new_  
 _We would rather die the way we are_  
 _Than dream to be you on a shooting star_  
 _You’re never gonna change our minds_  
 _We can look both ways at the same time_  
 _Look at things with an open heart_  
 _Give the revolution a brand new kick start_ ”  
When I finished, I realized I was smiling. At least until I tried to pull the headset free. My hair had become tangled under my hat, and I called Marcus to come to my rescue. I felt hands on my head, and I released the headset to their grip.  
“Wow, that’s really stuck in there.” It was Thomas. I jumped, spun around, and he had to catch me as I toppled into the drum set again. “Don’t worry, Brian and John left, I hid in the booth so I could hear what you sounded like when you thought no one was watching. I’ve been seeing you practice for so long.” He stopped. Like he had seen a ghost, he realized he said something he shouldn’t have. He had just managed to pull the headset free, handed it to me, and this time it was him who ran from the room. I just stood there.  
Marcus walks in, “Joby! That was sick! Why don’t you perform? Oh wait, of course I know why, that was a stupid question.” The enthusiasm spilling out of him was unlike any other. It was like a volcano, the words were exploding out of him, but I wasn’t hearing any of them. I was staring at the door, wondering what Thomas was talking about.  
“Jo, Jo you there?” I’m brought back to reality by fingers snapping in front of my eyes and Brian calling my name. I must’ve been staring off into space for a while, because when I was brought back, John, Thomas, and Marcus were sitting on the couch, and Brian was waving his hands in front of my face.  
“I’m good, I’m okay. Sorry guys. How was it?”  
“Totally dope,” said John, a huge smile on his, “I didn’t know you had it in you.”  
I must’ve had a weird expression, because I heard Brian say “Dope is good.” We shared a laugh, and they offered me some pizza.  
After a few hours of listening to them toy with my vocals and watching them practice, I checked the clock, and it was already 12:30. I bid them goodnight, and they finally let me leave after they all entered their numbers into my phone, even Thomas. Since I had locked my bedroom door, the only way in was through my balcony. I snuck in, immediately flopped onto my bed, and as I drifted to sleep, I got 4 text messages. All saying goodnight. Marcus. John. Brian. And Thomas.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four  
I’m awoken by the blaring of my alarm clock. It’s only 6 a.m. I slam my fist on the power button, and crawl out of bed. The first part of my day is always the slowest. I take a shower, rewrap my arm in a clean bandage, straighten my cotton ball head of hair, and head down to the kitchen. My mom is the only one there.  
“Hey!” She jumps up, arms outstretched and pulls me into a hug, “How was your first day?”  
“Where do I begin?” I chuckled, “Zach’s girlfriend has it out to get me, Marcus’s friend is either plotting to kill me or steal my brain because my songs beat his in the competitions my teachers used to enter me in, I became France, sliced my arm open, and I think I may have accidentally joined a band.”  
“Accidentally?”  
“Really? That’s the one you chose to take from that?” I say, smiling at her, “They are using my songs and made me record it.”  
“Oh. Just be safe.” She said with a sly smile. My mother knows that I don’t let anyone else hurt me. I never go to parties, I’ve never had a boyfriend, until last night I had never been out after 11, I’ve never even done tricks on my skateboard without a helmet, and she’s taunting me.  
“Very funny,” I say sarcastically, “Now if you excuse me, I need to go put on a costume for UN.”  
As I finish climbing the stairs, I take a left before heading to my room. “Wake up sleeping beauty!” I bang on the door. And as always, “Go to hell! I’m graduated!” is what I hear in return, half groggy. I laugh and continue down the hall, head into my room, and start going through my closet. My mom buys me a rainbow of a wardrobe every year, hoping I will stop wearing all black, red, and green. And I always refuse. Digging through the rows of hangers, I finally manage to rustle up a somewhat generic French worthy outfit, consisting of black cargo capri pants, ballet flats, and a short sleeved, off the shoulder shirt that I never wore because I thought it made me look like a zebra. To add color, I tie a red scarf around my neck, knot to the side like in the movies. Grabbing my bag and my board, I head out the door, borrowing my mom’s beret on the way. I head down the steps from the front porch, as soon as I hit the sidewalk my wheels are on the ground, feet are on the board. I refuse to take the bus because the traffic in this area of town is atrocious and I couldn’t stand to be around those gorillas longer than I have to.  
By the time I get to school, I still have ten minutes before free period. I’m convinced they only give it to us to make up for the traffic jams that make other kids late. I head into the cafeteria, grab a chair, flip it around, and lean my chest against the back. I’m watching all the people enter and join up with their cliques, trying to guess who’s going where, when a girl I don’t recognize comes up to me.  
“You must be Jo. I was excited to meet you yesterday, but I was in Santa Monica finishing up a visit with my cousins. I’m Phoenix.” She stands there, hand extended. She isn’t too menacing, about my height, a lip piercing, gauges, blue hair. After a minute, I accept her handshake and ask how she knew who I was. “Oh, you don’t know?”  
I can feel my eyebrows pushing together in confusion, she pulls out her phone, opens a picture message, and when I look, I want to scream. On her screen, is me. Someone took a picture of me singing at Marcus’s house the night before and sent it to this girl I had never met.  
“Where did you get that!?” My face showing my anxiousness and worry.  
“Brian sent it to me, he said that you were pretty cool and I wanted to meet you when I got back, so I needed to know what you looked like.”  
“I gotta go.” She tries to catch me, but my feet are moving before the words are out of my mouth. I’m outside in less than a minute, and I’m searching until I spot the Mathletes a few feet away. “Where did you get that picture? Why would you do this to me?” I shouted, much louder than I intended to. Other students are turning to look, before any of them could get a word out, I whisper through clenched teeth, “I hope you’re happy.” And I leave. My plan is to just go home before school starts, unfortunately I ran into Principal Grey, and it changed to turning around and ‘getting my butt back to class.’  
When I walked into Anatomy, the only empty seat is next to Marcus, so I’m forced to sit next to him. Sitting down, the emotions running through are between bursting into tears, slugging him in the nose, and my favorite, complete indifference. So that’s the one I focus on.  
“What were you talking about? What picture?” He asks, the befuddled expression on his face looks genuine, but I fight my urge to explain and instead I ignore his persistence. I’m watching Mr. Harvey, hoping the class ends soon so that I won’t give in to Marcus’s nagging. When the bell finally rings, I stand up and get ready to go to Precalc, where I will have to endure Thomas. And I can’t help but wish I could change my schedule.  
As we’re exiting the room, Ebony is waiting for me again.  
“Well if it isn’t the schools newest reject.” She smirks, “How’s my arm candy doing at home?”  
“Leave me alone you sniveling little twat.” I utter, barely opening my mouth, letting my anger at Marcus flow to her.  
“Oh dear me, did little miss mime just speak? It couldn’t be true.” Ebony and someone I’ve learned to accept as her mini me, a girl by the name of Anna, laugh to each other.  
Anna smiles at her, but it isn’t a pleasant one, at least not for me. “You’re right Ebony, there’s no way the mouse just spoke. I don’t think it’s scientifically possible.”  
“Just leave me alone!” I push through them. I don’t let myself stop or worry about the stares, I’m fuming.  
By the time I get to class, I make it just before the bell rings. I take my seat next to Thomas and stare at the board. I’m so focused on solving the equation that I don’t notice him slip a piece of paper onto my books until the teacher tells us to pull out our homework assignment, which I’m hoping I remembered to do. The slip of paper almost fell to the ground, but I managed to catch it while I passed in my assignment.  
‘What picture were you yelling about?’ I want to ignore it, but there is something in my brain, pulling the answer to my tongue. I decide to scribble a note back, ‘Someone named Phoenix showed it to me. I can’t believe Marcus took a picture of me yesterday.’ When I passed him the note, he had to slip it directly into his textbook before the teacher turned around. She spent the rest of the period challenging the class, never turning to face the board, so by the time class ended, he still hadn’t read it. My arm is starting to throb and only then do I remember that it’s bandaged. I have so much anger flowing through me, my blood is pumping stronger. When I get up to leave, I hear him whisper, “You’re bleeding again. Let me take you to the nurse.”  
“I can find it.” There was more acid in my voice than I intended, but it gave him the hint to back off. On my walk to find the nurse’s office, I think about him. It’s funny how one of us is always pushing the other away.  
By the time I find the clinic, explain why I have the cut, and she changes the bandages, I’m fifteen minutes late to English. When I walk into class, I just wave my bandaged arm with my hall pass at the teacher and take my seat. Brian, John, and Marcus are staring at me, but I return none of their looks. I can feel the eyes burrowing into me. Mrs. Sydley gives us an in class assignment, ‘Write a story about the following objects and make them relate to each other: cell phone, navy ship, peanut butter, zoo monkey, and ice cream. Hint, it doesn’t have to be a paragraph kind of story!’ I start writing a half-assed poem about the list when another piece of paper is passed over.  
‘Please talk to me. I don’t know what picture you’re talking about.’  
I don’t speak, I scribble back, ‘You will.’  
I decided that when we go to lunch, I’m going to have Phoenix show them the picture on her phone. When the teacher’s egg timer dinged, she had us pass our papers to her and she started reading them, preventing students like myself from needing to speak. By the time she gets to the fifth paper, no one is listening anymore, not even me. I’m idly doodling, which is something I never do, especially in class. Number six. “I see someone took my advice and didn’t write a paragraph story.” She smiles and shows my paper to the class. “Jo wrote us what I’ve come to learn is a rap.” Oh. My. God. No. It’s like she’s never heard the term before. The sight that followed was so horrifying, I slid into my chair trying to hide from the world.  
This woman decided to attempt to rap what I wrote for the assignment, everyone turning to look at me. I put my face in my hands, slowly shaking my head. About to run away and never return, the bell rings like a saving grace and I bolt out of my chair. I make it half way to lunch before I stop running. I walk the rest of the way, by myself, deciding where I should sit. I go through the lunch line, get my pop, just like the day before. Except I’m alone.  
‘I’ve been at this school one day and I’ve already lost my friends.’ I think to myself. ‘What a way to start my senior year.’ I walk over to an empty table, sit down, and stare at my “lasagna” that looks more like cardboard with ketchup. Debating on eating it, I’m about to pick up my fork, when I hear a voice say “I wouldn’t do that.”  
Phoenix.  
“Who are you?”  
“Oh right, I never really explained that passed my name.” She smiles, apologetically, “I’m Brian’s girlfriend. He said you joined the band. Sort of. And I wanted to be able to say hi. I’m not sure where he got the picture.” She looked above my head, “Maybe he could tell you.” Then all the guys moved into the table.  
“You have to talk to us now.” Marcus said, with the same ‘gotcha’ smile he always wears. Unfortunately, he was right. They had blocked me in. “Come on Joby. None of us know what you are talking about.”  
“The picture Brian sent her. I didn’t even want to do it but I let you guys talk me into and now you are sending the picture around? How did you even get it?”  
Brian spoke next, “I didn’t take it. Thomas sent it to me. He took it when me and John went to get pizza yesterday.”  
“But I sent one to everybody!” Thomas said, defensively, “You looked amazing, you were so in the zone you didn’t even notice. I sent one to you too.”  
I pulled my phone out. When I fell asleep, I accidentally set it to silent so I didn’t even notice I got the message. I can’t help but to laugh. “You?” I couldn’t believe it. “Who all did you send this to?”  
“Any one sitting at the table. Except Phoenix, that was the whipped boy over there,” he said smiling, pointing at Brian.  
“She asked me to, and I thought Jo knew about the picture jackass.” We all laughed.  
“I’m sorry guys, but keep these pictures to yourselves, I don’t want people knowing about this.” They all agreed, and got up to get their lunches. Thomas hung back.  
“Look I’m really sorry, I didn’t think it was a big deal. Forgiven?”  
“Forgiven. But I have a question.”  
“Anything.” His words were inviting, but I could tell in his smile that he was nervous what I was going to say.  
“What did you mean when you said you’ve been seeing me practice? I only practice in my room when no one is home and Marcus leaves so he can’t hear me.”  
He started biting his lower lip. His eyes were pleading for him not to answer the question, but he did. “Well. Not to sound like a stalker or anything, cause you know I’m not stalking you, not that I wouldn’t stalk you, oh wait. That’s sounds bad. I’m not a stalker, but if I were you’d be great to stalk, I mean, uh, okay look. You practice with your door open. I live in the apartment straight across from it and I hear you sometimes sort of.”  
Before I could respond he ran away. When everyone came back to the table, they asked where he went, so I told them what happened.  
“Dammit! I told you guys we can’t leave them alone together.” The guys laughed. Phoenix and I just smiled and shook our heads.  
The bell rang to go to our next period. I stop at my locker on the way to grab my books, and I sent Thomas a text. ‘It’s okay. I wondered who lived there. Hope to see you in class.’   
I walked into history, Brian was waiting, but Thomas wasn’t there. He came in five minutes late mumbling something to the teacher about his locker not opening, avoiding any chance I had of talking to him. After a drizzling 50 minute period of the teacher arguing with a goth kid, whose name is Damon, about why beheading was removed as a punishment and why it should or shouldn’t be brought back, there’s five minutes left of class. Mr. Deltoro agrees to let us have the five minutes, with no homework, “As long as no one riles up the mortician in the back.”  
Thomas turns, telling Brian a story, instead he’s texting. No doubt that it’s Phoenix. I tap Thomas on the shoulder. He slowly turns around, and when he’s finally face to face, before I can say a word, he blurts out “So how’s your arm? Is it still hurting? Cause if it is you may want to go to the hospital. I could take you later if you want, or not. Maybe Marcus should take you. Or your brother. Zach right? Not that I’m creeping on your brother or anything, I heard you say it to Marcus yesterday. Wow, I am rambling, look at the time!” He jumped out of his seat, perfect timing as the bell rang. He ran out of the room before I could get two words out. I was tempted to chase after him, but I don’t know what class he’s going to, so instead I straighten the scarf to my French costume, and head to UN.  
When I got to class, no one was there. So to kill some time, I had an idea to make my costume more correct to the French stereotype. I spent the remaining time before the other students got there on my own little “arts & crafts”. I was in my seat, waiting. Then Germany came to invade France. Or in other words, Ebony came to get back at me for “verbally assaulting” her this morning. “You little weasel! How dare you talk to me like you did! Do you even know who I am?” She was talking, just loud enough to make sure everyone noticed the argument. This is it. Show time for my art project. “You clearly don’t or you wouldn’t have acted like that. I am the one that can make or break someone here, even a loser like you. You are lucky I don’t make you taste my knuckles.” She was waving her fist in my face.  
“Je me rends! I surrender!” I shouted, waving a white flag.  
That’s when the teacher walked in, and for someone who spent a lot of time talking about not stereotyping, I didn’t know he could laugh so hard. The whole class was laughing when I looked around the room. This time it was Ebony who got embarrassed. She huffed, spun on her toes, and returned to her seat. Marcus gave me a high five hand slide and laughed, waving my flag in the air.  
That’s when I realized, I’m never gonna be able to kick this band thing. They are always gonna be there, bugging me to record, write, demonstrate, and it’s easier to accept it. So I scribbled him a note.  
He read it and smiled.  
‘I’m in.’


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five  
When the bell finally rings to dismiss us for the day, Marcus and I are walking out, planning on heading home, while he’s telling me about Battle of the Bands.  
“They determined to make things fair, each band must have at least one girl and one boy, but can have more members. And until you agreed, we didn’t have a girl. Now we can enter.”  
“I don’t know Marcus, I mean I can barely talk in front of people, how am I supposed to go on stage?”  
Apparently I spoke just a little too loud. “Do my ears deceive me? Is little miss too-shy-to-say-hi really planning on singing?” Ebony’s smug face glowering down on me.  
“Don’t start this shit again Ebony. Leave her alone.” Marcus said, always at my defense.  
“Oh don’t worry, I won’t bother her. I just want to let you know that might as well not even enter. I’m going to win that competition with my cousin’s band.”  
Marcus laughed. “And pray do tell, what kind of monstrocity will you be singing?”  
“Some poem no one has even heard of. Her brother showed it to me last night.”  
All of a sudden, there was a knot in my gut. Something telling me something wasn’t right about that poem. “What’s it called?” I manage to whisper above the tightness of my throat.  
“I’ll Try to be Your Hero. It’s about some idiot that used to cut themselves. Isn’t that just pathetic? I’m only doing it because it should get sympathy points from the judges.” I can feel my hands clench into fists. “It’s by some nobody named Paisley Charles. I googled her, she only exists in books.”  
Marcus grabbed my arm. Without even realizing it, I was raising my arm to punch her, and she would have no idea why. He whispered softly, “Come on Joby. It’s not worth it.” As he led me away, I could hear her laughing with her brainless clones.  
As soon as we were out the front doors of the school, Marcus turned to me, my wrist still in his hand. “Why didn’t you tell me?”  
“Tell you what?”  
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” He said, pushing my wristbands down to reveal my scars. “Why would you write about it unless it was you?” And as though they get alerts for when to show up for the worst timing ever, Thomas, Brian, and John walk up.  
“Whoa, what’re those?” Brian says, staring. Upon realizing, the next words out of his mouth weren’t as pleasant. “Are you crazy Jo? You can’t do that to yourself!”  
“Did we miss something? Are you stupid?” John said.  
I jerked my arm away from Marcus. “This was none of your business. I stopped and that’s all that mattered to me. I was proud of myself.” I turned to face Thomas, “You’re the only one that hasn’t judged me yet, so go ahead.”  
He said nothing.  
“I don’t need this from you guys. Instead of focusing on the fact that I did it, why can’t we focus on the fact that I stopped? Why can’t we focus on the fact that instead of judging me for it, my best friend made me promise to quit, and I haven’t done it since? If you guys want to focus on the shit, then you’ll never see the beauty of the grass.” I threw my board on the ground, pushed off, and skated away. Not giving them the time to say another word. At least not to me.  
“What happened, man?” John said to Marcus.  
“Ebony is what happened. Jo’s brother showed her something she wrote under her pen name, and Ebony was making fun of it. Saying it was pathetic that ‘Paisley’ wrote something about someone cutting themselves. And to make things worse, Ebony is going to be singing it at Battle of the Bands.”  
“We have to make this up to her.” Thomas.  
The three of them were confused. “What?”  
Thomas pulled up his wristbands. “I know what she’s going through. We need to show her that we don’t care about them.”  
Marcus looked at Brian and John, they nodded. “We’re in. What do we do?”

Later that night, I got a text from Marcus, asking me to come down to the music room. As much as I didn’t want to, I agreed. I refused to be embarrassed about beating such a problem in my life. My parents are home, so I yell down the stairs that I’m leaving. Naturally, I get no response. When I walk back into my room, I stop at the mirror, take three deep breaths, and head out to the balcony. When I jump down and knock on the door, there’s no answer, so I open it to be left speechless.  
Marcus, Thomas, Brian, and John are standing there, blowing the noise makers that you use on New Year’s Eve, Phoenix and a girl named Rayne from my Precalc class are leaning against the wall, smiling. When I look up, they have a banner with the words “Happy 6 months free!” handwritten across it. I want to cry.  
“How did you know?” I say, smile slowly spreading across my face.  
I hear a voice I recognize say, “They called me and I told them when I made you promise. I’m proud of you.”  
I couldn’t find where the voice was coming from, until Phoenix walked over with a laptop. My two best friends. Right there in front of me. Or sort of at least. I started to cry.  
“Don’t cry Jo. You are so brave. I miss you so much out there.”  
“Jess, Al, I miss you both so much. I wish I could come visit.”  
They giggled. Jess spoke, “So, give us introductions, they didn’t.” I laughed. I pointed out everyone, but since I couldn’t explain who Rayne was, John did.  
“That is my lovely girlfriend of three years who is far too smart for me.”  
“Oh that’s nice,” Al chuckled, “Which one is Thomas?” Thomas did an awkward wave in return. “So this is the one from your email earlier? You’re right, he is cute.”  
I opened my mouth, but nothing would come out, I could feel myself turning into a tomato. Jess, coming to save the day as always, said “Oh, he’s just kidding. Jo didn’t say that. At least not directly. But she did describe each of you pretty well. So, who talked you into joining the band?”  
Marcus raised his hand, “Right here. My little Joby is going to help us win Battle of the Bands.” He had the most enthusiastic smile on his face. Al laughed. “You do realize she can barely talk in front of people right?”  
“We know, but listen to this.” Thomas said, climbing in the sound booth, hitting play, and sending my voice through the speakers.  
 _“You’re never gonna change our minds_  
 _We can look both ways at the same time_  
 _Look at things with an open heart_  
 _Give the revolution a brand new kick start_  
 _Feel the power in our feet_  
 _We’re taking the power to the streets_  
 _You can’t change our minds_  
 _But just give us some more time_  
 _We’re gonna change yours_  
 _We’re coming knocking, knocking on your doors_  
 _Open up, I know you’re home_  
 _And I’m not leaving here alone”_  
“Whoa,” they said in unison, “We didn’t know you had it in you. That was epic.” I was staring at my shoes. Jess said, “Look at us.” When I looked up, her and Al were making a heart with their hands and holding a sign. ‘Make us proud.’ I smiled. “We have to go, it’s already pretty late out here.”  
“I love you guys.”  
“We love you too.” And they disconnected the video call. I ran over to Marcus, pulled him into the biggest hug I have ever given anyone.  
“Why did you do all this?” I tried not to ask, but my tongue vomited it up like a tidal wave.  
“Ask him.” He said, pointing at Thomas. “He was the one that convinced us we should do something to make it up to you for being such assholes.”  
I looked at Thomas. He was staring at his feet, holding his wrists. I slowly reached down, pulling his hand into mine, I pushed his bands out of the way. There were scars in healing, just like on mine. The freshest ones were months old. “You quit too.” He slowly nodded, not looking up from his feet. I dropped his hand, and pulled him into an embrace. “Congratulations. You’re beating it.”  
He returned the hug, “You are too. Now, don’t hate me for this, but,” he pulled back enough for me to see that perfect smile, “Group hug!” Next thing I knew, I was being crushed in the arms of everyone in the room. All of us laughing, hugging, smiling, I managed to get out the words, “So, what did you guys have in mind for this battle?”  
The smile that spread across all of their faces would be worth the pain of getting in front of everyone. So, we spent the next three hours on the internet and in my notebook, trying to find everything ‘Paisley Charles’ had ever written. It’s approaching midnight when we finally come to a decision. ‘The Urge to Take Over’.  
“Are you guys sure this is the one you want to do?”  
They all nod. “Okay, we’re agreed. We’re going to dominate the show.”  
Thomas left to get a drink, and Phoenix spoke, one of the first things she’s said all night, “Brian, does this mean I get to start watching you practice?”  
“What do you mean babe? You see me practice all the time.”  
“Not with the band. I just think that if Thomas can have his girlfriend at practice, I should be able to come to.” She smiled. “Come on Marcus, you know I’m right, if Jo is here, the other girlfriends should be too.”  
Oh. My. Goodness. I laughed. “I’m who you qualify as his girlfriend? I thought you meant he actually had one.”  
Thomas came back into the room, “Thought who had one what?”  
Brian laughed, “Phoenix thought you and Jo were an item.”  
“What’s an item?”  
“You know,” John said, “together.”  
“We are together. Right now, all of us are together.”  
“Dude!” Marcus shouted, voice on the verge of laughter, “Are you that out of modern slang that you don’t know what we mean?” Thomas stared at them.  
Everyone shouted, “Dating!” We all started laughing. Thomas looked embarrassed, laughing awkwardly, he started to speak, “Okay, well on that note, I’m gonna go.”  
“I’ll walk you out,” I said, regretting my timing to want to go to bed, “I mean, it’s late.”  
“Oh shit, good thing today was Friday!” Rayne said. I don’t think she had ever spoken a word, and I didn’t expect her to have such a big voice. “Marcus, is it okay if we crash here?”  
“Totally, see ya later lovebirds!” Marcus yelled, as we were leaving the room, Thomas and I both flipped him the bird.  
“So, can I ask you something?” Thomas whispered, watching his feet while he walked.  
“Sure, what’s on your mind?” I said, trying to get him to look up.  
“What are you doing tomorrow?”  
‘Probably studying for the Precalc test I’m gonna fail on Monday.’ I think to myself, “Nothing, why?”  
He looked up at me for a second, standing in the back of the apartments, then he looked back down. “I was wondering, if maybe, you would want to, I don’t know, see a movie or something?”  
I smiled at him. “Like a date?”  
“Yeah, or no, not if you don’t want it to be a date. We could go as friends or we could invite the guys, or if you don’t want to go that’s fine too, we can just hang out. Or not, it’s totally up to you.”  
“Thomas,” I interrupt him, he looks at me, “You’re rambling again.” I said, still smiling at him. “And I would love to go on a date with you.”  
In a flash, I see that perfect smile. Then we hear Phoenix, “Can someone pick up the phone, because I fucking called it!”  
Even though we were both embarrassed, he doesn’t stop the smile this time. “You should do that more often.” I whisper, “It looks good on you.” Then I slip away, into my house, and up to my room. Ready for the next day to get here.  
It’s a warm night, so I open the doors. When I open them, I sit on the balcony for a little while. Singing one of my favorite songs, ‘Now I Can Be the Real Me’ performed by Adam DiMarco, not caring if anyone heard me.  
 _“Walls, you can build them all around_  
 _Just to shield a piece of your world out of sight_  
 _And I, I needed you to look through_  
 _To the shadows I tried to bury inside_  
 _Drawing them out to the light_  
 _You showed me I’ve got nothing left here to hide_  
 _Now I can be who I am_  
 _Now I can stand up for everyone to see_  
 _Take this life in my hands_  
 _Now I can be, now I can be the real me_  
 _Free of defenses finally_  
 _And I’m somehow safer than I’ve ever felt_  
 _You said to be you_  
 _Now I know I don’t have to be someone else_  
 _When I’m with you, I am just myself”_  
I’m just sitting there singing, staring at the stars. I feel my phone vibrate, and when I look at the message, it just says ‘Look up.’ When I do, I see Thomas with a sign, “Goodnight, I love that song.” I smile, wave back, and head back into my room.  
I’m lying on my bed, fighting the urge to stay awake and write. I want to go to sleep so tomorrow will come. I close my eyes for what feels like hours, when I open my eyes, it’s been ten minutes. I decide to let myself write, it might tire me out. Fourteen sheets of paper later, I realize it’s been four hours. I lie in bed, and slowly drift off to sleep.  
When I wake up later, my clock tells me it’s quarter to noon. I crawl out of bed, head down to the kitchen. My dad is sitting there, reading the paper. Saturday is his only day off, and he’s usually at the golf course with his buddies by now. “So what’s on your agenda for today?”  
I smile at him, “I actually have a date.” And as though those words send out mother signals, my mom is in the kitchen the very next second asking “Who? Where? When? Tonight? What are you wearing? Do we get to meet him first? Is it that boy you were with all summer?”  
“Janice, calm down, give her time to breath.” My dad says, looking like he wants to smile, but knowing that he should keep a straight face when talking about his little girl’s first date. “What’s his name sweetheart?”  
“Thomas.”  
“Thomas? Didn’t Zach say that’s the, uh, guitarist from the band you joined?”  
“Yes, daddy. Brian is the drummer, John sings, and Marcus is bass.”  
“This guy isn’t going to get you mixed up in anything, is he?”  
We all laughed. “Of course dad, cause our plan is to get addicted to meth and have six kids.”  
“Okay smartass, just be careful.” He smiled at me. “Where are you going?”  
“I think to a movie.” My phone vibrated. “It’s him, so am I allowed to go?”  
My mom looks at me with an expression I’ve never gotten from her, “Hunny, do you really think I am going to tell you not to go on the only date you’ve ever been asked out on?”  
“Wow, mom. What a positive way to look at it.” I chuckled at her. “I’m gonna go get dressed and meet him. I’ll see you guys later.”  
“She’s growing up, Jim.” My mom said, as I walked back upstairs, looking at my father.  
“Oh, don’t get all teary eyed, Janice. She’s still our girl.”


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six  
Going through my closet, I’m digging around trying to find something to wear. Nothing is jumping out at me, which would be hard considering everything is the same. It takes me twenty minutes to decide on a pair checkered black and green skinny jeans with piano suspenders attached, my black converse, and a black tank top under a neon green off the shoulder shirt that has ribbon stitching up the back that reads ‘Don’t question me, Question authority’. When I’m finally dressed, I brush through my hair, and put on my black hat. I text him.  
‘When do you want to meet up?’  
‘How bout now?’  
I hear a knock. I open my door and smile.  
“I met your dad already. He seems nice. I’m terrified.”  
I laughed. “What about my mom?”  
“She has this crazy smile on her face when I rang the doorbell, but she hasn’t said a word.”  
I shake my head. “That’s mom alright. Come on, let’s sneak out the back, because trust me, she’ll have a camera ready as soon as we go down the stairs.” He smiles and nods.  
My mother knows me too well though. As soon as we jump down onto Marcus’s balcony, I hear the back door to the house open. I laugh and tell Thomas “Jump and run!” We landed on the pavement and took off, hearing my mother yell “I will get a picture eventually Jo!”

We stop running a few feet away from outside of the apartments, I turn to Thomas, “So what are we doing?”  
“I was thinking we could go get some dinner and catch a movie. Stay away from that camera as long as possible. Or at least your mom’s.” Without missing a beat, he pulls out a camera and snaps a picture of me.  
“Not cool!” I say, laughing, “Let me take one of you!”  
“I don’t think so!” He smiles, running away. “Come on! We gotta catch the bus to downtown.”  
We get to the bus stop to find absolutely no one, which is a strange thing to find in LA. When the bus pulls up, we see why. Everyone on this bus looks like a gang member or part of the mafia. We quietly file back, and pick a seat in the middle of the bus. Since neither of us are comfortable talking in front of people, we’re texting, he’s asking about the tattoos I have, and I’m asking about his. He has about four different tattoos of varying sizes, ranging from the star from Mario on his ankle, to a whole sleeve done in brightly colored dragons and snakes. By the time we get to downtown, I’ve learned that his dream is to play guitar for a living, but he also wants to become a math teacher, his parents are plastic surgeons for different celebrities, and he’s lived in LA since he was eight. When he moved in, Marcus became his first friend, just like with me.  
We get off the bus and started walking along the boulevard, “Where do you want to go?” he asked, looking at me with that same perfect smile. I snap of picture of it with my phone, the lights of the city making him look like a movie star. “Hey!” he shouted, without losing that smile, “Why’d you do that?”  
“You were the one that told me I should take a picture cause it’ll last longer remember?” I giggled.  
“Come on,” he laughed, “I’m starving.”  
We’re walking up and down the different boulevards, people watching and laughing to ourselves. There are neon lights on even though it’s still daylight, there is the smell of foods of different countries mixing together in the air, you can hear the drunks in the alleys and bars arguing about who finished the bottle, it’s a scary and beautiful place all at once. When we couldn’t decide where to eat, we ended up at Mickey D’s, laughing that we’ll never be famous one day with this in our diet. We walk out the door, it’s only around six o clock. Down the street, there’s a rap battle taking place, Thomas grabs my hand, pulling me over to watch. There is one guy announcing, introducing each person as they come up to battle, declaring the victor after the crowd votes. By watching, it seems as though someone named ‘The Phantom’ is the undefeated champion, and you only get one verse to win. He has basic skill, but he’s missing obvious lines to force rhymes. When you break it down, he was barely better than L’il Wayne. When the battle ended, Thomas looked at me.  
“Go Jo.”  
“What? Are you crazy? I can’t go out there.”  
“You can. You could beat this guy in one verse. Besides, it’s great practice for the Battle of the Bands.”  
“Damn, you’re right, but I think there’s a list or something.” Too late. Thomas is already pointing at me, “She wants to challenge.”  
They all laughed. “That lil white girl wants to challenge me?” He says, smiling smugly. I nodded, against my better judgment. “Well, then bring it little girl. Give me a beat, man.”  
Another guy turned on a tape deck, laying down the beat for the competition.

 _“Let’s check it white girl_  
 _You gonna eat some food and hurl_  
 _Walk through the school halls_  
 _You shouldn’t be here, you should be playin’ with dolls_  
 _Is this some piss poor date?_  
 _Or is he just your friend, mate?_  
 _I think you need to see what rap really looks like_  
 _But wait til you’re older, tyke”_  
 _I looked at Thomas, he mouthed ‘You got this.’ I took a deep breath._  
 _“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bigger rapping phony_  
 _Same goes to all your homies_  
 _You need a to hear a beat to rap it out_  
 _Cut the music and listen to me shout”_  
 _The music stopped._  
 _“You think you’re so big and bad_  
 _Well my friend that’s just a bit sad_  
 _How old are you that you need cut up everybody you meet_  
 _I’m surprised you can tie the shoes on your feet_  
 _You can only win in the streets_  
 _You are a joke to the game_  
 _Even if I lose, there goes your fame.”_  
I finished and walked over to Thomas, he was smiling. “What?”  
“You’ll see.”  
I can hear the announcer behind me, having everyone clap for who they think brought it better. “And the winner is, Jo!”  
I laugh, and overhear some guys hassling him for getting beat by a girl, and before I can stop myself I say, “Well if I beat him, and he beat you guys, what does that say about you?”  
They share a look, and Phantom smiles. “Yo lil dawg, whenever you wanna battle, you come on out. We could use you on our team.”  
I smiled back. “Thanks, but I’ve got a band and we have a competition to practice for.” I took Thomas by the hand, and waved goodbye to our new friends.  
“That was unbelievable! You won!” Thomas is more excited than I have ever seen. “If you can win on the streets, where there are no rules, we’ll win the competition for sure.” Something flashed across his face, and he looked at our hands.  
“You okay?”  
“Yeah,” he said, holding my hand tighter, “I’m great.” And there was that smile. “So what do you want to do now? Movie or pier?”  
“I’m thinking pier, I would love to go on the Ferris wheel right now.”  
“Pier it is.” And he takes off running, dragging me along behind.  
By the time we get the pier, it’s already around eight o clock. We breathe in the scent of the ocean and funnel cake. “It’s beautiful out there.” I say, looking out at the sun setting on the ocean.  
“Not as beautiful as right here.” Thomas said, looking at me and bringing my hand up to his lips.  
I blushed, “I’ve gotta be honest with you, this is my first date. I don’t know how this is supposed to work.”  
“Oh thank God,” he said, relief spreading across his face, “It’s mine too.” We laughed at ourselves.  
“What kind of high school seniors have never been on a date before?”  
“Clearly only math loving band members. Now how about that Ferris wheel?”  
We get on the Ferris wheel just as the sun faded out of sight and they finished turning the lights on. When we got to the top, it stopped, and we sat there staring at everyone walking around among the lights.  
“Isn’t it amazing?” I said, watching the people walk without a care in the world.  
“What?” He asked, studying my face.  
“Everyone down there. They are aware of the people around, and at the same time, it’s like no one else is there. They come here, they see so many people, but the only ones that matter to them are the ones they came here with.” He took my hand again. “They come here, they have fun, they forget about any problems they are having. To them, this is all that matters right now. Everything else fades away.”  
“I can see why your teachers thought you were a poet.”  
I smiled at him. “Tell me, am I still a hard one to figure out?”  
He chuckled. “Can I ask you something?”  
I looked at him seriously, “Have I ever stopped you?”  
“True.” He bit his lip. “Would it be crazy if I tried to kiss you right now?” I blushed, he got closer, “You’re really cute when you do that.” Then he kissed me.  
Everyone says your first kiss is supposed to be terrible, and you’re supposed to hate it, but I didn’t. It was amazing. The taste, the pressure, the tenderness. Everything about it felt so right. It only lasted a second, but the feeling lasted for hours after we went home. Sitting there, at the top of the Ferris wheel, he pulled away and looked at me.  
“Wow.”  
“Yeah, wow.” And I couldn’t help myself, I kissed him again. I could feel him smile under it, and then the jerk of the Ferris wheel sent us from the perfect moment, back down to reality. We decided that it was time to call it a night, so we could make the bus back to the suburbs. It took nearly three hours to get home that night. On the bus home, I fell asleep on his shoulder, and he didn’t wake me until we pulled to our stop. When we got off the bus, I got a call from my mom.  
“One sec,” I told him, answering my phone, “Hey, mom…yeah…almost there…just got off the bus…perfect gentleman…what did we do? I won a rap battle and we rode a Ferris wheel…yeah, I know I’m hilarious…be home soon…okay, bye.”  
“Why are you hilarious?”  
“She doesn’t believe me about the battle.”  
“So then I assume you haven’t told her about the Battle of the Bands yet?”  
“Are you crazy? All she’ll focus on us what I should wear, and she’ll set up appointments for me to my hair done, my nails done, my teeth bleached, to get waxed, it’s insane. She cares too much about how I look and not enough about how I feel. She hates that I wasn’t popular like my brother. Even back in Ohio, instead of facing the issue I had with cutting, she shipped me off to a therapist 3 times a week.”  
He pulled me into a hug.  
“Sorry, I guess I’m ruining the night.”  
“No, you couldn’t ruin it.” He smiled. “Let’s get you to sleep.”  
We started walking. Even in LA, when it’s 2 in the morning in the suburbs, it’s quiet and peaceful. The chill of autumn setting in for the first time of the year. I don’t know if I shivered, or he thought he would give it a shot, but he made me put his jacket on and he put his arm around me, held my hand in his on my shoulder, and pulled me close. We finally walked up the drive way to the apartments at around 3 a.m. Marcus was sitting outside, but we didn’t see him until we saw the flash of a picture being taken. “Ah! Marcus, what the hell?” Thomas said, rubbing his eyes from the flash.  
“Sorry bro, Jo’s mom begged me to do it. Said she would make me cookies in the shape of music instruments. It sounded awesome.”  
We couldn’t help but laugh. Next thing we knew, my parents were coming outside, and so were his.  
Thomas was confused, since they were coming out of my house. “Mom, dad? What are you doing?”  
His mother wasn’t very big, in fact she looked more like one of the supermodels that would go to his parents more than she looked like a plastic surgeon. She was around five foot five, long blonde hair, petite figure. I wouldn’t place her at more than 29 years old. His father on the other hand looked around 50 and he was only an inch or two taller than Thomas.  
His father speaks first, “We’re hanging out with your girlfriend’s parents. Since you didn’t care enough to tell us you were going out with her tonight, they did.”  
“I didn’t tell you because you’re never home. But mom, dad, this is Jo. She just joined the band.”  
His mother hugs me, “I’m his step mother dear, so don’t be shy to talk to me about him, or anything sexual, I’m a cool mom.”  
My eyes widen. I can feel my mouth open, but I can’t hear anything come out. “Mom! Seriously? It was our first date.”  
My mom looked at Thomas, “You can always talk to me too hunny.”  
My dad looked at him, “Do not talk to me about it, I do not want you to defial my daughter.”  
“See? That is the natural response! What is wrong with you people?” They all laughed, except for me and Thomas at least. “I’m going to bed.”  
His mom spoke next, “Okay, we’ll leave you two to say goodnight. How would the parents like a glass of wine before bed?”  
“Oh, we would.” Answered my mom, dragging my dad behind her, as they disappeared into Thomas’s house.  
“Goodnight guys!” Shouted Marcus, before disappearing into his own house.  
“What a strange night…” I said, looking in the direction everyone left.  
“Yeah,” Thomas said, biting his lip, watching me, that smile playing on his face.  
“What?” I said, smiling when I saw him staring at me.  
“Nothing, I just really want to kiss you goodnight.” I giggled.  
“Are you asking permission, or giving warning?”  
“More of a warning.” He smiled, pulled me close, and gave me one soft kiss, before pulling away. “Goodnight queen of the gangsta streets.” We laughed, and went our separate ways. When I laid on my bed, I could feel this kiss lingering. Almost like it was saying ‘This really happened. You really had this night.’ And I find myself smiling. I get a picture message with the caption, ‘Check out what Marcus sent me.’ It’s from Brian, and it’s the picture he took of me and Thomas coming up the driveway. I had such an amazing night, that I can’t even be mad. I text him back, ‘Enjoy it haha cause you guys will never get a picture of me again.’ It isn’t until months later that I find out just how wrong I was.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven  
I slept through most of Sunday. I didn’t wake up until it was time to get ready for band practice. I texted Phoenix to ask her if she was coming, and if she wanted to surprise Brian, to come to my house first. She texted me back almost immediately that she was getting Rayne and they would be there in ten minutes. While I was waiting, I got dressed. I threw on some red skinny jeans and a band t-shirt for Fall Out Boy. I had just finished lacing up my converse when I heard the doorbell ring. I jog downstairs, and let Phoenix and Rayne in. They greet me with hugs and thank me for letting them come to practice.  
“I haven’t told any of the guys yet, but you were right with what you said on Friday, so I thought it would be fair to invite you out. Even if we aren’t technically a couple.”  
Phoenix laughed. “Yeah you aren’t a couple like my hair isn’t blue. Oh wait, it is.” She said, waving her hair around.  
I wave for them to follow me, “Come on, we’re gonna be late.” They look confused when I start walking up that stairs, “Just trust me.” They follow me to my room, and I lead them out onto the balcony. “This is the best way to surprise them that you’re coming.” I climb over the rail, climb down, and help Phoenix and Rayne follow my footsteps. When I knock on the door, we hear Brian, “Thomas! Come let your girlfriend in!” Then Thomas yells back, “She isn’t my girlfriend yet!” And he opens the door. I put my finger to my lips, letting him know not to say anything.  
“Hey Brian! John!” I yell when I walk in, “I have a surprise for you!”  
“Oh yeah?” They say in unison.  
“Yeah, and they have names.” And I bring in Phoenix and Rayne.  
Marcus laughs, “You guys finally gonna let them watch?”  
Rayne says “We’ll be quiet, we promise.”  
Thomas doesn’t give them a chance to object, “Let’s get practice going!”  
I look at the guys, “I rewrote the song on Friday night, so that it has more distinct parts where I rap and John sings. Is that okay?”  
John smiles, “Definitely, I cannot rap and I had no idea how that was gonna work.”  
“Great, here’s your copy,” I say, passing lyrics to everyone. “Let me know what you think.”  
“Just from looking over this I can tell it’s gotten better,” Marcus said, scanning through the words. “Let’s do this. John, looks like you’re up first.”  
Brian stuck his sticks in the air, like most drummers, and counted us in, “1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4”  
“ _I’ve got an urge starting to take over me_  
 _It’s getting hard to fight_  
 _An urge to cast away my walls_  
 _An urge to thrust myself into the light”_  
John nodded to me, and I took a deep breath,  
 _“An urge to give in to_  
 _Cause you all see right through_  
 _Me like I’m invisible_  
 _But I’m gonna be invincible_  
 _Not gonna let you beat me_  
 _No one can be a better me_  
 _I’ve got the strength to fight this_  
 _Ignorance isn’t bliss_  
 _You princesses and queen bees_  
 _You’re nothing better than me_  
 _I have this urge_  
 _The urge to take over_  
 _I have the urge_  
 _And you royals better take cover”_  
 _“I’ve got an urge starting to take over me_  
 _It’s getting hard to fight_  
 _An urge to cast away my walls_  
 _An urge to thrust myself into the light”_  
For the next verse, we had to have a conversation, and we had to try not to laugh. John led off again.  
 _“Have you ever had the urge,_  
 _And you feel like a surge?”_  
 _“Coursing through your senses_  
 _And making you feel demented?”_  
 _“I’ve felt the urges and I gotta say_  
 _I wouldn’t fight them any day.”_  
When John finished the last verse, the song ended. Rayne and Phoenix stood up, clapping. Brian was the first one to speak, “Guys, that was epic.”  
“This was definitely a great idea.” Thomas said, smiling at me.  
Marcus ran over and hugged me, “I can’t wait til we perform this. Let’s go again.”  
We spent the next six hours practicing, doing different songs to change things up, and we had a lot of fun. Before we knew it, it was dinner time and everyone had to head home. Marcus handed me a CD, “It’s a copy of the recordings we’ve done. This is the side of you that you need to show people.” Without another word, he left the room. I stuck the case between my teeth, and climbed up to my room. I set it on my bed before heading downstairs to the kitchen, to find my parents talking to Thomas’s. I stopped, and tried to go back upstairs before they saw me, but I was too late. “Oh, Jo!” I put my head down and walked over to my mom. “We invited Thomas and Ebony and their families for dinner, so go get cleaned up and run over and get Thomas.”  
“Oh sweet baby Buddha.” I mumbled under my breath. I ran up the stairs, changed into a pair of faded dark blue jeans with tears in the knees, and a red V-neck with ‘Play me an A Capella’ scrawled across it. I retied my converse, and ran down the stairs and out the back door before they could say anything else. I got to Thomas’s door, and when I knocked, I yelled, “Ay! The queen of the streets awaits!” And I heard “Well the queen can let herself in!”  
I opened the door, and found him sitting in the kitchen. “Want a soda?”  
“Sure, but it’ll have to be to go. I have been sent to retrieve you for the worst evening of our lives.”  
He put on a fake terrified expression. “Oh no, whatever is going on?”  
“My parents, your parents, and Ebony’s parents, decided that we all need to have dinner together tonight.”  
His expression changed from fake, to actual horror. “I hope they don’t serve garlic, those vampires can’t eat it.”  
I grab his hand, “Come on, we can suffer through it together.”  
We jog back to my house, and we walk in as Ebony and her parents are arriving, and I can hear Thomas whisper “Something wicked this way comes” under his breath, and I laugh and squeeze his hand.  
“You’ll be okay. She won’t be too evil in front of my brother.”  
“Well see, the Wicked Witch was nice to Dorothy at first too.”  
We walked over and sat at the table, whispering to each other, hoping no one would ask us to talk, but since the girl that insists on being my archenemy was across from me, that wasn’t what happened.  
“So Jo, did you tell your parents that you are entering Battle of the Bands?”  
My dad stopped my mom before she could start her game of 20 questions, “Are you? That’s great sweetheart. Is it gonna be one of the songs you’ve had published in those competitions?”  
“Published?” This question was posed by nearly all the foreigners at the table, except for Thomas. His father was the first to put the thought into an actual sentence. “You were published dear? How many times?”  
The one thing I’ve learned about when parents have children who have accomplished anything, is that the child never has to actually answer any questions about it. The parents always do. And naturally, my mom said “At last count, I believe it was 26.”  
“27.” My brother corrected. “I have every book.” He smiled at me. The one reason I can never hate my brother is because he always supported my song writing, even when it was worse than Dr. Seuss.  
“That’s marvelous! Why didn’t you tell us Thomas?” His mother asked.  
I muttered, “I asked him not to. I don’t even use my real name in the publications.”  
Ebony’s mother asked, “What name do you use?”  
“Paisley.” I said, hoping Ebony wouldn’t remember who wrote the song she was planning to sing. “Paisley Charles.” Unfortunately for me, she remembered.  
“Oh that is rich. Why don’t you sing for us now? Come on, let us hear.”  
I looked down at my plate. Thomas grabbed my hand under the table, and whispered to me telling me everything was gonna be alright. I looked at him, “I have an idea. I’ll be right back everyone.” I got up, and ran upstairs. When I came back down, I brought a CD player, plugged it in, and put in the CD Marcus gave me. “We recorded this today.”  
I hit play, and sat back down, looking down at my lap. I grabbed Thomas’s arm, and took a deep breath. The first song to play was ‘Mind Changer’, and I looked up to watch everyone’s expressions. They ranged from annoyance, which was only Ebony, to interest, which was Thomas and Ebony’s parents, to excitement, my family. This was the first time they had ever heard me sing.  
When the song ended, I turned down the volume, and let the CD play through while we talked. Thomas’s mother, who’s name I learned is Bonnie, said “That song sounded familiar. Where have I heard those words before?”  
Phil, Thomas’s father, answered her, “She’s the one that beat Thomas in that competition he entered last year.” The smile on his face led me to think that he was enthused by the turn of events.  
“Yeah dad,” Thomas said, rolling his eyes and smiling, “My girl beat me, she’s just better.” He squeezed my hand under the table. I looked at him and whispered, “Your girl?” He flashed me that perfect smile, “If you wanna be.” It was a another perfect moment for us. Too bad like all moments, it came to an end. But this ending was more like a car crash into a wall.  
Ebony sneered at us, “Well long live the freaks.” Just looking at Ebony, you wouldn’t expect so much hostility to be stuffed in her little body. Seeing her, without her being able to speak, you can see a truly beautiful girl, even under all the make-up and manicured nails. And then she opens her mouth and the acid spills out.  
Zach looked at her, “Leave them alone Eb, that’s my sister.”  
“I’m sorry Zachypoo.” And the weird thing about it, she actually did look sorry. I don’t know if it was fake, or if she was sorry she said it, or just sorry he heard her, but she looked sorry.  
After another three hours of embarrassing meal talk, and a poorly done game of Pictionary, the date night between couples and their parents was finally over. Ebony and Zach went to his room, my parents to theirs, and Thomas and Ebony’s parents each went home. I was left to clean the dishes, and Thomas offered to help me.  
“That was hell.” I said, clearing the table.  
“Oh yeah, but at least it’s over.” He chuckled, “Could you imagine if she had to pretend to be nice to us all the time? She might have an aneurism.”  
It took us 45 minutes to clean the dishes, even with the water fight that ensued. When we were finally finished, we went to the living room to watch a movie, and I fell asleep on his shoulder again. He woke me up around 11 and walked me to bed. When he laid me down, he gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, whispered goodnight, and disappeared.  
I woke up the next day for school, with nothing but good memories of that horrible dinner.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight  
Three months went by, everything was normal. Or at least relatively speaking. The band was practicing regularly, Marcus had a mystery boyfriend none of us were allowed to meet yet, Thomas and I were going strong. Everything was great, until one Monday. There was no band practice today, Marcus always had something to do on Mondays, but he would never share where he was going. Instead of focusing my energy on the ability to sing in front of people, I was able to focus on my Precalc test. I was going over the equations in my head, while I was boarding to school. Over and over and over. I wheel up to the stairs in front of the school, hop off and kick it up to catch it, but a hand grabs it before I do. It’s Brian.  
“What’s up dude?” I say, not sure why he grabbed my board.  
“Have you heard what happened?”  
“They killed Osama Bin Laden, it’s rumored they discovered the bones of a giant, Nessie may finally be getting caught, what thing are we talking about here?” I said, but the serious look on his face told me something different was on his mind. “What?”  
“Marcus and John. They got hit by a truck on the way here. They’re in the hospital.”  
“Are you serious?” He nodded. “Well, the only thing I had going on today was a math test, let’s get the fuck over there.”  
“How do you want to go? No busses are running to the city right now.”  
“Let’s grab the gang, I have an idea.”  
He got Thomas and Phoenix, and I got Rayne. I told them to follow me, and we ran down the road before the principal could stop us. School isn’t important when your best friend is in the hospital. We kept running. Phoenix was yelling that she regretted wearing heels, Rayne was asking why I pulled her out of class, Thomas was staying silent. We got to my house, I told them to wait outside. I ran up to Zach’s room, banged on his door. “Sleeping Beauty! I need your car keys! It’s kind of an emergency.”  
“You oversleeping to get to school is not an emergency.” He grumbled, opening the door and handing the keys over.  
“I didn’t oversleep, Marcus and John are in the hospital.”  
He took his keys back, “I’ll drive.”  
We all squeezed into his car, and Brian gave him directions while he was going 85 down the highway. When we pulled up to the hospital, Rayne starting freaking out.  
“Okay guys, why are we here?” She said, an anxious look spreading across her face, “Seriously, what’s going on?” Tears spreading in her eyes.  
Brian pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to tell you til you could see him. John and Marcus were hit by a truck this morning. John’s mom called me.”  
She started crying, screaming “No! No, she would’ve called me, they couldn’t have gotten hit, it didn’t happen!” And she fell silent until John’s parents came out the hospital door to meet us, when she saw them she became hysterical. Brian just hugged her tighter, even with her swinging at him, eventually she gave in to the hug, and John’s mother ran over and hugged her too, whispering that she didn’t call her so she wouldn’t worry until they knew how he was.  
John’s father, Luke, said “We convinced them to keep them in the same room. John is going to be okay, but Marcus is in surgery. They said that you can go in, but you are not to get them riled up.” We all nodded, and his father led us through the ICU. When we walked into the room, none of us were prepared for the sight we were going to see. John was laying in one bed, an IV in his left arm, his right arm and leg in a cast, and his head bandaged.  
“Hey guys,” He said softly, clearly straining to talk. He looks between our faces, taking in the damage of what we were seeing, and his eyes came to rest on Rayne. “Babygirl.”  
She ran over to the bed, crying, “What happened to you?” She asked, gently tracing the outline his face with hand, looking into his eyes.  
“Don’t cry, babygirl. You know I’m gonna be okay. I’m sorry to worry you.” He shifted his attention to his father, “Is Marcus out yet?”  
Before his father could answer, a doctor came in. “Yes, and he’s going to be fine. He is in recovery. We do not normally allow anyone to see patients this soon after surgery, but he is demanding Jo, so we agreed for fear he might try and get up to find him. Where is he?”  
I waved and whispered, “I’m Jo.”  
The doctor looked at me, saw Thomas’s arm around me, “This must be Thomas then?” We nodded. “Follow me. He requested both of you.” As we trail behind the doctor, I’m squeezing Thomas’s hand, worrying about my best friend. The doctor is weaving up and down hallways, saying hello to the different patients he’s passing, when he starts talking to us, “Marcus was muttering something while under anesthesia, we believe it was Newsome? Does that mean anything to you?”  
Thomas and I look at each other, I ask “New song?”  
“Yes,” he said, “That would make sense, he started humming.” The doctor chuckled, “In all my years as a surgeon, that was a first.” He smiled at us, and for the first time, we relaxed a little. “Does the name George mean anything to either of you?” We shook our heads. “Oh. Well he’ll be able to explain that when he recovers better. Here we are.” He says, stopping at a door with a window. “Go ahead in, do not touch him. I have to go get ready for another surgery.” And he walked away.  
We took a deep breath, pushed the door open, and saw Marcus, laying nearly unconscious on the hospital bed. We slowly approached him, being careful to keep our hands away. He opened his eyes, and somehow under all his pain, anesthesia, and gauze, he managed a smile. I nearly cried.  
“Hey Joby.” He whispered, “Did you bring Thomas?”  
“Yeah, buddy,” I said gently, “the whole gang is here waiting to make sure you’re okay.”  
He laughed, he actually laughed! Then, as if the pain hit him in a quick wave of emotion, we saw his face change from humor, to pain, to slowly soothing, to bearable. “I need you guys to do me a favor.”  
“Anything.” I whisper, trying to reach for him, and Thomas holding me back.  
“These are going to be very specific instructions. You two are the ones I trust to tell George.”  
For the next ten minutes, we listened. Through the pain, Marcus was giving us very specific instructions on how and where to tell his boyfriend that he was in the hospital. When he was finished, he made sure we understood and told us, “Don’t tell anyone if I look bad. They don’t need to worry.”  
That was always Marcus. Even when his life was having issues, he worried about other people. When I moved here, his parents left. They divorced and moved out in the same week, leaving Marcus in the house. They send him money every week since then, making sure he has everything he needs, but no one talks in his family. And here he was, lying in a hospital bed, and all he cared about was making sure no one worried about him.  
When we returned to John’s room, we found Marcus’s phone in is Mathlete’s jacket, just like he told us. We scrolled through until we found the right contact and texted him, ‘Hey, we need to meet. I need to see you. The pier?’  
Within seconds there was a response. ‘On my way now.’  
Thomas and I looked at each other, told everyone we would be back as soon as possible, and we were out the door and in Zach’s car in no time. Thomas was driving, heading to the pier.

By the time we got there, we had gotten a text to meet him at the Ferris wheel, which didn’t help since we weren’t sure who we were looking for. Funny thing about being in a band with matching jackets, George found Thomas. Even funnier thing, he didn’t know it wasn’t Marcus, and without looking at his face, he spun him around and kissed him.  
The moment of shock is in his eyes is not one I will ever forget. “Ohmygod! I am so sorry! I thought you were someone else. I can’t find him anywhere.”  
Thomas was too surprised to speak. So I did. “George?”  
“Yes.” He answered, eyeing me confused.  
“We were sent to get you. He told us to tell you ‘south city bus.’ Does that make sense?”  
George smiled. “That’s how we met for our first date.”  
Thomas found his words, “He said it’s level 5 serious.”  
His face went into shock. “Surgery? Where is he?”  
“Come on,” Thomas said, waving for him to follow, “We’ll get you there.”  
It’s still the middle of the day, so there is relatively no traffic on the drive back to the hospital. In the twenty minutes it takes us to get from the pier to the hospital, George tells us stories on dates he’s gone on with Marcus, recalling details that most people would’ve missed, and the entire time he’s talking, he’s crying. I took his hand, he squeezed it and asked if his ‘kooky butt’ is okay.  
“The doctor said he’ll be fine, he just needs to recover.” We pull into the parking lot. “I will warn you, it isn’t pretty.”  
As we board the elevator to get to Marcus and John’s room, George takes both of our hands. We can tell by the way he’s shaking that he’s afraid. Thomas looks him in the eye, “It’s okay George. Remember, you have to be strong for him.”  
George took a deep breath, let go of our hands, and said “You’re right. He needs me.” But when the elevator doors opened, he took my hand again, and I let him. I led him down the hall way, when we approached their room, I turned to face him.  
“George, you’re gonna be okay. Just remember, Marcus is going to be fine, he’s just a little more fragile than you are used to.” And I lead him into the room. He sees John in his casts, sitting with Rayne cuddled up to him, and takes another deep breath. I hear him whisper, “He’s okay.” And I think he is still trying to sooth his nerves from finding out his boyfriend was hit by a truck. When we come around the curtain, Marcus no longer has the gauze wrapped around his head, though he’s pretty badly bruised. He has both of his legs in casts, and his left wrist. He has a tube leading from his chest to a container of blood, which I’ve gathered is to drain his lungs from any liquid that made its way in. George gasped, squeezed my hand, and regained his composure.  
“Hey there, sweetness.” He whispered, getting close to Marcus, being sure not to touch him. “How you feeling?”  
Marcus opened his eyes, and smiled. “Hey babe, I missed you.”  
“I missed you, too.” George was on the verge of tears. “How’re you feeling?”  
“Oh you know me, I’ll be tip top tomorrow.” He chuckled, trying to raise his arm into a thumbs up. “Why don’t you guys open the curtain so we can all talk?”  
Thomas slid the curtain open, Brian waved, being sure to stand so that Marcus could see him without getting up. Marcus’s parents were sitting in different corners of his side of the room watching him, keeping an eye out for any sign of pain. Brian was holding onto Phoenix. She had tears on her face, but whenever we looked in her direction she smiled at us. John’s parents had left to check in with work and get something to eat since they found out he was okay. After you a few minutes, Marcus said “This is great talking guys.” We couldn’t help but laugh.  
“So what happened?” Brian asked what we were all wondering.  
“We were crossing High Street cause they had a red light, out of nowhere this truck hit us.”  
“Wrong place, wrong time.”  
Marcus nodded, and winced moving his neck so much. George immediately jumped up, “Relax sweetness.” He started patting the back of his fingers to Marcus’s forehead. “I’ve got you babe.”  
Marcus’s father started shifting uncomfortably, and it occurred to me, he didn’t approve of his only child being gay. He only made himself noticeably uncomfortable when they were touching, but he let it go since Marcus was lying in the hospital bed.  
“So you guys have been together three months now?” His mother said, looking at Marcus and George, love in her eyes.  
“Yes ma’am. And they have been nothing but amazing” George answered, smiling down at Marcus, “Oh, where are my manners. I am George Fenderson.” He held out his hand to shake hers, and then Marcus’s father’s.  
“Well it’s very nice to meet you, I just wish we could’ve met differently.” Their faces turned sad. She smiled, “When he gets discharged we will have to have dinner together.”  
“I would be mighty honored ma’am.” For the first time I noticed an accent to his voice. It was somewhere between Irish and English, and whenever he talked, I could see the happiness spark up inside Marcus’s eyes.  
“So, tell the embarrassing mother, have you had sex yet?” She said, smiling at the three of them.  
“Jesus, Heidi! No one wants to hear that!”  
“Oh, Seth, just because you refuse to accept that our son is gay does not mean I’m going to act any different around you than I would if he were straight. If this was his girlfriend and he said yes, you would high five.”  
“I most certainly would not!” His father yelled back.  
“Stop!” I hadn’t realized the word left my mouth until they were staring at me. “What is wrong with you two?” I said softer. “Your son is in the hospital. Someone is here that cares about him and you guys are fighting about what gender they should be? Well I will tell you what, I would be ashamed if you were my parents.” I looked at Marcus. He smiled at me, and I would’ve sworn he mouthed the words ‘thank you’ before his father kicked me out of the room.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine  
I knew no body would want to leave them yet, so instead of asking them to, I went to the cafeteria. I texted Thomas so they would be able to find me after they were done visiting. Zach texted me.  
‘You should’ve seen what happened.’  
I texted him back. ‘What?’  
Not even a minute later, I’m getting texts from Brian, Phoenix, Thomas, and Rayne. They are all telling me the same thing.  
‘Seth just punched George for giving Marcus a kiss.’  
Within minutes, I see security guards taking Marcus’s father out of the hospital, and watching him until a police car shows up to take him to jail for disorderly contact and assault.  
I run to the machine and get some ice. When I made it back to the room, everyone is laughing and George is holding his cheek. I hand him the baggie of ice and he says thank you about sixteen times. I sit down next to Thomas and Phoenix. “So what just happened?”  
“Dude, it was insane.” Zach said, “They were still fighting, and in the middle of it George leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. His dad, man, his dad went crazy and decked George right across the face.”  
“That wasn’t even all!” Brian chimed in. “Marcus somehow got the strength to push himself up, and he went off on his old man. He was yelling, saying that you were right and his father didn’t really care about him, and that the band was more of a family to him than he was.”  
I looked at Marcus and George, staring into each other’s eyes. They were just like the people around the Ferris wheel. They know everyone is here, but no one matters to them except for each other. “I’m proud of you.” Marcus looked up and smiled.  
“No Joby, I’m proud of you. You’ve come a long way in three months. And we have another five to get you the rest of the way there.”

After a few more hours of visiting, the doctor came in and told us that visiting hours were over. We said goodbye, no one being allowed to hug Marcus, so George snuck a kiss. Zach drove everyone back to our house because it was too late to take them home. I had Marcus’s house keys, so I let George spend the night there.  
The next morning, we all woke up for school. No one particularly excited to be up at 6 a.m. since we went to bed around 1. I got dressed in my standard t-shirt and skinny jeans, and crawled down the balconies to see if George needed a ride to school. When I found him in Marcus’s room, he was curled up on the bed cuddling with one of Marcus’s hoodies. I noticed a class ring on his finger saying that he graduated the previous year, so I left a note by the bed and let him sleep. When I got back into my room, Phoenix and Rayne were waiting for me.  
“What’s up?” I asked, looking at their curious faces.  
“We need to borrow clean clothes.” Phoenix said, gesturing to her wrinkled wardrobe. “Brian already bugged Thomas.”  
I laughed. “No problem, closet is right there, borrow whatever you want.”  
“Ohmygod, what colorful clothes you have.” Rayne chuckled. “How come you never wear any of this stuff?”  
“It’s not my style, if you find any of the colorful you like, you can have them. Then they aren’t going to waste.”  
Rayne and Phoenix looked at me. “You are so strange. But we get it, you like what you like.”  
“Exactly.” I smiled. “Speaking of which, I’m gonna go make sure the guys didn’t go back to bed.” I jogged down the stairs. My father was sitting at the breakfast table with Thomas and Brian.  
“Morning sweetheart.”  
“Hi daddy.”  
“Why were all your friends in the living room this morning?”  
“We were at the hospital last night visiting Marcus and John. They were hit by a truck yesterday. When Zach drove everybody home, it was too late to take them…well, home. So we came here. Thomas slept in the living room with Brian and Phoenix and Rayne slept in the guest room so you wouldn’t freak out. There was no sexual contact. Just sleep. And there wasn’t even much of that.”  
My dad laughed. “I knew I could trust you. But next time, stick them in your brother’s room.”  
I saluted. “Yes, sir.” I sat down at the table, “You guys get enough sleep?”  
Brian looked at me, and he appeared to be half dead, “Hell no, we did not. Lover boy over wouldn’t shut up.” I laughed at him, Thomas blushing.  
“Well sleepy head, it’s time to go.” I walked over to the stairs, “Phoenix! Rayne! We’re gonna be late!”  
They came racing down the stairs in clothes from my closet, and they didn’t look half bad. “What do you think?” Phoenix said, striking a pose. She was showing off a dress she picked out to match the blue heels she wore the day before. It was a little business dress, with the natural waistline, but she wore it well. Rayne chose a jean skirt that went to just over half way to her knee with a tie dye t-shirt that read ‘Bring back the 60s’.  
“You both look great, now let’s get going.” I grabbed my board and my bag, and we all made our way out the door.  
By the time we got to the school, free period was ending. We ran past the principal and split up for our separate classes. When I walked into Anatomy, Ebony wasn’t quiet about noticing my entrance.  
“Well, look who decided to show up today. Where’s your ‘best freak forever’?”  
“Leave him out of this.” I whispered. Even though I was able to yell at Marcus’s parents, I couldn’t bring my voice any louder to Ebony.  
“Aw, what? Did you two have wittle fight?” She was mocking me, using a baby voice. She started wiggling her fists in front of her eyes, like she was wiping off tears, “Are you gonna cry?”  
“I’m warning you.” My voice made itself louder.  
“Or what? You’re gonna run away when people start staring? Marcus isn’t here to rescue you this time. Where is he? Huh?”  
Before I could control myself, I yelled. “He’s in the hospital! Is that what you wanted? Because he isn’t here you have to harass me until I tell you where he is? Well I hope you are fucking happy you troll.” My voice started getting quieter. I was on the verge of crying. “He was hit by a truck yesterday.” I looked up. “Mr. Harvey, may I use the restroom?” He nodded. I stormed out of the room.  
I went to the bathroom and splashed water on my face. I was looking into the mirror, trying to calm myself down, when Ebony came in. I spun around. “What do you want now?”  
She handed me a tissue. “I wanted to apologize.”  
I was stunned. “You what?”  
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you so much. I was tortured when I first came here, and I became the torturer. The way I am with your brother, that’s who I really am. And I don’t mean the way I am towards you around him, because I am still pretty horrible then. But when I am with your brother, he brings out the old me. The one I left forgotten in the dark until I met him last summer.” I stared at her. “I know I have been a royal bitch. But I want to change that. And I’m sorry about what I said about your song. It’s really good, and I’m proud that you stopped cutting. Can I tell you a secret?” I was still staring at her. She slid her skirt up just enough to reveal scars on her thighs. “I wish I was as strong as you are.”  
Before I knew it, I was pulling Ebony into a hug. She was as caught off guard as I was, but she slowly returned it. I looked at her. “How about France and Germany create an alliance?”  
She smiled. “Sounds like a great idea.”  
We went back to class, and sat in peaceful silence until the bell rang. When we walked out the door, Anna was waiting for her queen. “Ebony! Why are you so close to that freak?”  
“Leave her alone Anna. She’s actually a nice girl.”  
“Isn’t that why we don’t, like, talk to her? Because she isn’t one of us?”  
“To be honest with you Anna, I’m not one of us. I never have been. Her brother reminded me of that.” She smiled at me. “When you get home today, tell Zach I said that I miss him. And I’m sorry, I want him back.”  
Before I can ask what she means, she turns and walks the other way to class. And I have to head to Precalc. I sit next to Thomas, as usual, and I tell him about what happened.  
“Wow. That’s crazy.”  
“I know right?”  
“You know, I remember a girl named Ebony when we were a lot younger, she was really nice. We all left for summer, and when we came back, that Ebony was here. I was so young I assumed that the nice one moved away.”  
Mrs. Hart tells us that she will give Thomas and I a week to study for the make-up test since our friends are in the hospital and starts the lesson, while I’m left wondering. I spend the period thinking that maybe Ebony is as nice as she seemed today. I made the decision to talk to my brother after school and find out what happened.  
I’m still left thinking when the bell rings, sending up to third period. I’m not as excited for English as I normally would be. Probably because Marcus occupies the seat next to me. When I walk into class, the room is decorated in celebration. I was trying to figure out why, when I looked at the board, Mrs. Sydley did what every other teacher I had did. She submitted my writing. But she forgot to use my pen name.  
I dropped my books and stared at the board. Brian walked in, took one look at the board, and I heard him say “Are you gonna leave? Cause I’ll explain it to her if you are. Or you can sit by me.”  
I shake my head. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from you guys, it’s that I’m strong when I’m with you. I’ll sit in John’s seat today while we suffer through this.”  
Mrs. Sydley came in, speaking in a sing-song voice, explaining to everyone that today we are celebrating two things. “We are celebrating that survival of two of our dear classmates from a terrible truck accident yesterday.” She looked to me and Brian. “And we are celebrating the wonderful work of Miss Jo Rayve. She won the Student Writers Association Award.” She started clapping, no doubt believing everyone would follow, and they might have, if I hadn’t slammed my head on the desk so hard that it echoed.  
Brian said, “Why don’t we focus on John and Marcus?”  
Everyone in the class was asking what happened, where they were, where it happened, Mrs. Sydley really didn’t get any actual teaching done. By the time everyone was done with their questions, it was time to go to lunch.  
I got to the cafeteria, grabbed my lunch and a soda, and found the gang at their usual spot. Thomas gave me a kiss, and I sat down, staring at the weirdest looking pizza I had ever seen. “I swear, they don’t use actual food ingredients to make this stuff.” I say, poking it with a fork.  
“That’s why no one eats here.” Rayne said, laughing, “Careful poking it, it might crawl away.”  
While we’re laughing, we don’t notice her walk up. Tray in hand, Ebony asks us, “Can I sit with you guys? They kicked me out of the table.” I looked at them, each of them shifted their shoulders, or said they didn’t care, so I nodded up at her and she sat down beside Rayne. “I’m sorry to hear about John. How’s he doing?”  
Rayne smiled at her, “He’s good. Thanks for asking. He’s doing a lot better than we thought actually, they said that he can go home tomorrow.”  
“That’s great news!” Ebony smiled back. “I’m glad to hear it. And I want to apologize to you guys too. I know I’ve been a bitch for years, and none of you deserved it.”  
They were all astonished. Thomas was the next one to speak, “Hey, if Jo can forgive, so can we, right guys? After all,” he grabbed me and Brian around the shoulders, “we’re a family.” We started laughing again.  
“Ebony, what happened between you and my brother? He never told me you broke up.”  
She looked sad. “He didn’t like how I talked to you that night at dinner.”  
“That was three months ago! You guys broke up that long ago?”  
“Unfortunately,” she looked sincere as she wiped a tear from her eye. “Thank you guys for letting me sit here.” She started standing up. “But there are more people I need to apologize to.”  
“I’ll help you.” I said. “I’ll be your moral support.”  
“Hey, I guess you got me too. I want some time with my girl.” Thomas said, taking my hand. He whispered to me, “I’m proud of you. You’ve come a hell of a long way.”

Walking around the lunch room, I met a lot of students I didn’t know. All of whom Ebony has insulted in one way or the other. To start with, we went to the football team. Two girls had joined the team their freshman year, when Ebony joined the cheer squad, and she didn’t like it. The quarterback had been Ebony’s boyfriend going into summer, but she broke up with him when she met my brother at the beach.  
“Liam,” she said, “I’m very sorry about what happened between us, and I never meant to hurt you. You are a genuinely nice guy.” He smiled at her.  
“Thanks Eb, I hope things work out for you.” When he stood up, I could see just how tall he was. His brown hair hanging in his face. He gave her a hug before taking his tray to the trash can.  
“Jen, Nina,” she turned her attention to the star wide receiver and running back, “I know I gave you girls a lot of shit when you joined the team, but if it wasn’t for the two of you, our team never would have made it to the state championship four years running, and I’m glad you didn’t let my negativity stop you from doing what you love.”  
Nina, a blonde of about five foot ten, spoke first, “We’re cool dude. You weren’t the only one we got shit from, so we generally ignored it.”  
“Yeah,” Jen, another blonde, said punching Ebony’s shoulder, “We’re good.”  
Ebony smiled, and she moved on to the drama table. “Sara,” a very tall brunette looked at her, “I am deeply sorry for all the torture I put you through our freshman year. I was an absolute monstrocity and you didn’t deserve that. You really do have a beautiful voice, and I’m glad that what I said at the freshman musical auditions didn’t stop you from staying in drama club.”  
Sara smiled at her, “Shit girl, it’s the same thing people say to each other at auditions for Hollywood. And if I want to get there someday, I can’t let the high school one bother me.”  
I looked at Ebony, “Are you feeling better?”  
She nodded. “This is easier than I thought it would be. But I have to go to the Skaters next.” When we got to the table, they stopped talking and stared at her. “David,” he was about five foot five, with hair dyed blonde, “I remember that you asked me out our sophomore year, and instead of telling you I wasn’t interested, I embarrassed you and got your skateboard run over by a car. Truth is, I was interested in you then, but my friends didn’t approve. And I am deeply sorry for what I did to you. The next day, I bought this,” she pulled out a gift card. “It’s for that skate shop downtown. I was too afraid to give it to you then, but I wanted to make it up to you. I also had my mom get this,” she fished a folded up piece of paper out of her purse, “She works with different skateboard companies, and I convinced her to get the autographs for me.” She unfolded the paper and it had signatures from Birdman, Bam Margera, Ryan Sheckler, and Rob Dyrdek. She set it on the table with the card. “Can you forgive me?”  
David looked angry at first, but it melted away and he smiled at her, just like everyone else. “How could I not forgive you when you went to all that trouble? We’re chill man.” He said, making her the high five-hand grab-slide handshake skaters do with each other.  
“Is there anyone else?” I asked, Ebony thought for a moment.  
“Only one.”

That day after school, Ebony went with us to the hospital. Marcus was last on her list. When we walked into the room, the confusion spread on his face. “Hear her out.” George whispered, no doubt picking up the vibes that he didn’t like her.  
“Marcus, I know you don’t want me here so I will make this quick. When we were younger, and you came out to everyone as gay, I honestly had no idea what that meant. We were in fifth grade, I didn’t even know what it meant to be straight. That doesn’t excuse the fact that I called you horrible names. I had told my father that you came out and those were the names he called you. I didn’t know they hurt your feelings, and then everyone started calling you those names, and I felt terrible. It’s been 7 years in the making, and for the most part our classmates accept you. I didn’t know what it meant to be gay until sometime in 8th grade, and I wish I had known sooner. You are a very great guy and you didn’t deserve to be treated the way you were at such a young age.”  
Marcus stared at her for a long time. Finally, he said something. “I forgive you.”  
She started crying. She smiled at him. “Thank you so much. And I’m glad to see you are okay. At least for the most part.” We all laughed, looking at his casts.  
He waved his wrist cast in the air, “They take this one off tomorrow! Turns out, it wasn’t broken. So I will definitely be able to play at the battle, even if I’m in a wheelchair!” Everyone smiled at his perseverance.   
We left later that day, on the bus we were talking to Ebony like we had been friends for years, and I could see why my brother liked her so much.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten  
When I walked through the front door to my house on Friday, Thomas and Ebony were with me, and my brother was the only one home. I went to his room and banged on the door until he opened it, “Hey bro. Can I ask you something?”  
“Shoot.”  
“Why didn’t you tell me that you and Ebony broke up?”  
“I figured you would be happy she was gone.” He looked down. The sorrow from missing her was in his eyes.  
“Well, I change my mind about her. You should get her back.”  
“I wish JoJo. I really wish I could. She won’t take me back.”  
“Why?”  
“Because I ended things so badly.”  
“I wouldn’t be so sure.” I smiled at him.  
“What?” He asked, confused by the look in my eyes.  
“Follow me.” I said, walking out of his room. He tailed me to the living room. “Tell me right now, how much you miss her, and what you like about her.”  
"Jo, what's going on?"  
"Just...tell me." I saw Thomas bring Ebony in behind Zach. I looked at him expectantly, and he finally spoke.  
"I miss her more than I miss Ohio. I miss her more than I miss the shores of Lake Erie. I miss her more than I love your songs. I miss her more than anyone I have ever met." The hardness is his face was melting, a softness of nostalgia taking its place. "I miss kissing her. I miss the way she would trace hearts on the back of my hand while we were sitting under the trees at the beach. I loved the way she smiled. The way she would twirl around to music when we were alone. I love the way she looked when she fell asleep on my shoulder. I love the way she laughed. I loved everything about her. She was herself around me, and it's like we were little kids again. I miss that the most."  
Ebony was crying. "Oh, Zach," He turned around to her voice as she ran to hug him. He caught her and hugged her tight.  
Zach looked at me, "What's going on?"  
"She apologized to me last week. And to everyone else she had ever hurt at the school. So when she told me she missed you, I had to do something." I said, Thomas coming over to me.  
"Yeah, that's my girl. Trying to make everyone happy." He laughed, taking me in his arms. He looked at Zach and Ebony, "Would you guys mind if I borrowed her today?" When they shook their heads no, he picked me up and ran out the front door. I was laughing trying to tell him to put me down.  
"Where are we going?" I managed to ask when I caught my breath.  
"Downtown."  
"What's downtown?"  
He smiled that perfect smile. "You'll see."

We got off the bus in downtown, and there was a festival. I hadn't realized it was already February until I saw the cupid decorations everywhere. The whole street was decorated from store to store, ribbons, beads, streamers, lights, all red, white, and pink. The Ferris wheel on the pier was more beautiful than I had ever seen it. I looked at Thomas, who was watching my reaction to the marvelous scenery. "Why didn't you tell me this is where we were going?"  
"Well, then it wouldn't be much of a surprise would it." His perfect smile planted on his face. "There's one more surprise, but we have to get on the Ferris wheel."  
I laughed. "Okay. Let's go then." We started toward the pier, walking and watching the couples blissfully ignore everyone around them. A few feet down the road, we saw Phantom and his crew, and decided to check out the battle. When we got there, instead of starting the next battle, I heard him say “Aw snap, here comes the queen!” I laughed again.  
“What’s up Phantom?” I said, while he forced me to do the hand grab slide type handshake.  
“I was about to show this boy a lesson.” The other guy smiled, looking me up and down. “But I think you should take him down a peg instead.” Phantom smiled, laughing.  
“I don’t know man, I wouldn’t want to embarrass him too bad.” I grinned. Thomas nudged me.  
“Go for it.” He said, nodding toward the wannabe thug with his pants too low.  
“Okay.” I said. “Let’s see what you got Wannabe Eminem.”  
Phantom made the announcement. “For her second performance in the streets, our current reigning champion, Jo, facing off with the whitest brother on the block, The Joke!” And he pressed play.  
Just as before, it was one verse each. The Joke led us off.  
“You think this is a game princess?  
Why don’t you go check out a dress?  
Give us a twirl  
Get with me and I’ll make your head whirl  
Whatcha gotta say to that girl?”  
I looked at him, waiting until Phantom gave me my cue.  
“Give you a twirl?  
I’d rather go home and hurl  
You might think you’re all that  
But you only have the basic skills to rap  
You’ve got no flow, you’ve got no beat  
You wouldn’t know a good song if it was sitting at your feet  
So please go back to playing gangster  
Cause no lady is getting with you sir.”  
When we were finished, Phantom took a poll of the crowd. “And the winner is…Jo! Still reigning champ!” We laughed.  
The Joke looked at me, “Not bad, ya know for a girl.”  
I laughed again. “Not bad. Ya know, for a joke.”  
“You’re gonna regret that little miss thing.” The glare in his eyes was almost blinding. Phantom nudged his friend, “Man, get this fool outta here.” After The Joke was a distance away, Phantom asked me, “Jo, you cool girl?” I nodded, without taking my eyes off him.  
I looked over to Phantom, “Bro, we would love to stay, but we gotta bounce.”  
He made me do the hand grab slide again. “A’ight girl,” he looked at Thomas, “You best be taking care of my queen man.”  
Thomas chuckled and put his arm around me, “Don’t worry, I am.” And we waved goodbye, continuing toward to pier.  
We approached the line for the Ferris wheel, and I asked, “So, can I know what the surprise is yet?”  
He chuckled and smiled his perfect smile. “Not until we reach the top.” He looked down at me, winked, and gave me a kiss. The line moved quickly, and we were on the Ferris wheel in no time. When we got to the top, it stopped.  
“Just like last time.” I laughed, looking down at the people. “It’s still beautiful.”  
Thomas looked at me, smiling. “Not as beautiful as you are.”  
I blushed. “So what is this big surprise?” I nudged him.  
He chuckled again. “Well, I wanted to give you something.” He reached into his pocket. “It’s no big deal if you don’t want to wear it because you don’t really wear jewelry, but I saw it and I thought of you.” He pulls out a tiny box. I looked at him, my mouth wide open. “Now, before you freak out and try to jump out of here, it’s not an engagement ring. It’s a promise ring.” He opened it, to reveal a small silver band with a jade green gemstone inside.  
I smiled at him. “I absolutely love it.”  
He slid the ring on my finger, pulled me close to his side, and whispered in my ear, “I see what you mean about everyone else in the world disappearing when you are with someone. It all disappears when I’m with you.” I smiled and whispered back “Isn’t it marvelous?” I watched over the side of the seat, “I can see couple after couple, some getting engaged, some out on their first date, some having been married for twenty years. You know what’s amazing about today for them?” He looked at me questioningly, “Even the ones that have been with each other forever, they can still make it special.” I giggled. “My dad still asks my mom to be his Valentine.”  
Thomas pulled me closer, “Well, will you be mine?” I giggled again and nodded. “Great.” He whispered, kissing me harder than he ever had before. Another perfect moment for us, ended by the jerk of us moving forward. He laughed. I looked at him and he smiled, “Still just like our first date.” I smiled at him and curled up until it was time to get off and head home.

On the bus ride home, just like our first date, I fell asleep with my head on his shoulder. And just like on our first date, he didn’t wake me up until the bus pulled up to our stop.  
“Why don’t you ever wake me up?” I asked as we started to walk home.  
“Because you look so peaceful. And who am I to ruin an angel’s slumber?” He smiled, but it wasn’t his usual smile. It was a half-smile that I thought people only did on TV. I took his hand, and he picked it up and kissed the back of mine. “You are too perfect ya know.”  
I laughed, a bit louder than I intended to, walking through the suburbs at two in the morning. “Yeah, right.”  
He looked at me, “No, seriously. You perform, at least for us. You’re beautiful, smart, level headed, caring.” He paused and I continued, “Don’t forget socially awkward, shy, and clumsy. And that I weirdly feel the need for songs to rhyme no matter what.”  
He laughed, “And you’re honest. And modest. You’re funny. You know how to be yourself. You can see beauty in a crowd of people. I’ve never met anyone like you.” I was looking down at my feet until he tilted my face up. “I haven’t said this to you yet. But I think I love you.” He paused. Before I could respond, he said, “No, I know I do. I love you, Jo. Whether you love me back or not doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I could finally bring myself to say it.”  
I was speechless. I stopped walking and stared at him. This time he was staring at his feet, which didn’t hide his face since he was nearly a foot taller than me. “Look at me.” I whispered, he glanced up, “I love you, too.” And he kissed me, harder and more passionate than any kiss we ever had.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven  
By the time we got to my house, it was quarter after 3. My dad was up, waiting in the kitchen for me to walk in. Before Thomas could leave, my dad called him and sent me to bed, but I listened from the stairs.  
“Let me talk to you a second, son.” He insisted on calling any friends of ours ‘son’. I don’t know if it was to make them feel more comfortable, or uncomfortable, but it usually did the latter.  
“Okay,” Thomas sat down. “Sir, I’m sorry I brought her home so late. We were at the Valentine’s Day festival downtown and we lost track of time.”  
My dad put his finger to his lips to hush Thomas. “I know it’s late, but I’m not worried about that. I just have a few questions for you. Okay?”  
“Yes, sir.”  
“What do you plan on doing after high school?”  
“I want to become a math professor.”  
“Really? Interesting. What do you plan on doing with your music?”  
“Well sir, if we win Battle of the Bands, we win a recording contract. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to do music for a living, but I see the beauty of teaching numbers to be more rewarding. I would like to do music on the side if possible.”  
“That’s a good answer.”  
“Thank you sir.”  
“Have you and my daughter had sex?”  
“No, sir.” Thomas was taken aback by the change in questions.  
“Why not?”  
“Well sir, I am not going to push your daughter into anything she doesn’t want to do. I have never had sex, and I don’t know when I’ll be ready. Either way, I am happy with her without it.”  
“Do you love her?”  
“Yes I do sir.”  
“Does she love you?”  
“I believe she does sir. And with your permission I would like to keep seeing her.”  
“You seem like a good kid. You have my permission. Now get home before your parents come looking for you.”  
Thomas shook his head yes and ran out the back door. My father turned to go to his room and saw me sitting on the stairs. He looked at me, held out his arms, and I ran into a hug. He pulled away after a few moments, “Do you love him sweetheart?”  
“Yes daddy. I think I do.”  
“How did you know when you loved him?”  
“Just like you always told me daddy, all the songs made sense.” My dad kissed the top of my head and sent me to bed. I was lying on my bed, thinking about the night we had. My mind flashing back to battle, the bus ride, the Ferris wheel, until I found myself staring at the ring he gave me. I realized I was smiling. I started drifting off to a dream world. I was only faintly aware of a text message before I let the sleep take me over.  
‘I love you.’

The next morning, I woke up to my mother in my room, staring down at me. I was so startled to see her bleached white teeth smiling down at me, I screamed.  
“Oh hush,” she said, sitting on my bed. “So, I understand that you and Thomas said I love you to each other?” She looked at me quizzically, before noticing the ring on my hand. “Ohmygod, is that from him? What does this mean? You two are in high school, you don’t need to be engaged. Are you crazy?”  
“Mom!” She paused and looked at me. “It’s a promise ring. We aren’t engaged. We did say I love you to each other. And the rest is none of your business now get out of my room.”  
“Well young lady that is no way to speak to me.” She stared at me until she could no longer hold a serious face and laughed. “I see your point though. I was just like you when I met your father in high school. Just be safe.” She got up and left a box of condoms on my bed.  
“Mom!” She smiled at me, and whispered, “If you use them I won’t tell your father.” Before walking out of the room and down the stairs. I crawled out of bed, grabbed the box, and walk down the hall to Zach’s room. When I knocked on the door, he’s already awake and getting dressed. I hand him the box, and whisper, “Mom says be safe.” Before walking away, I hear him say “What?” to himself and go back into his room.  
I get a shower and get dressed for the day, after I lace up my converse, I hear the doorbell. When I get downstairs, my dad is letting Ebony, Rayne, and Phoenix in. They catch sight of me, and drag me back upstairs to my room. Phoenix speaks first, once she makes sure the door is shut.  
“So, what happened on the date last night?” They all had eager faces, like they knew there was something big to tell.  
I laughed, “Nothing major. We went to the pier, I got into another rap battle, and we rode the Ferris wheel. Just like our first date.”  
“Oh really?” Ebony said, “So you guys didn’t, oh I don’t know, say I love you?”  
I looked at them. “Zach?”  
“Zach.” They replied in unison.  
“Okay. Well, yes. We did.”  
“Well, who said it first?” Rayne asked.  
“Why does it matter?” I asked feeling confused.  
“Because, if you said it first, he might’ve only said it because you did, and if he said it first then it’s a major step.” Ebony said, “Geez, haven’t you ever had a boyfriend before?”  
“No.” I answered softly. Each of their expressions changed from shock to intrigue.  
“How?” Phoenix asked.  
I looked at her. “Well, when you have trouble talking to people, it’s pretty easy to avoid. And unlike with these guys, everyone back in Ohio thought I was crazy for writing all the time.”  
They laughed. “Fair enough.” Ebony said, “Did you mean it when you said it back?”  
“I did.”  
Rayne noticed my ring. “Is that a promise ring?”  
I had forgotten about it. “Yeah. He gave it to me on top of the Ferris wheel.”  
“Aww!” They screamed in unison, before attacking me with hugs. “You two are so adorable.” Phoenix said, grinning from ear to ear.  
“And you guys are so lame.” I responded. “Now come on, we’re gonna be late.” We headed out the balcony and down to the parking lot below. Meeting Brian, John, Thomas, and Zach at the bottom. I glanced around, “George is still with him?” They nodded. “Well, let’s go pay them a visit.”

Marching through the door to Marcus’s hospital room, armed with flowers, balloons, and teddy bears, we saw that he had a new roommate since John had been discharged. I looked around the room, and saw no one here to visit this poor old man. “I’ll be right back.” I whispered to no one in particular before slipping out of the room. I went back down to the gift shop and found a teddy bear and a balloon that would seem innocent enough to come from a total stranger. I got back to the room, and he was sleeping. I tied the balloon to the bear’s arm and set it on his night stand.  
“You are amazing, even to people that don’t know you.” Thomas said, grabbing my hand.  
“Well it made me sad. Here he is, and no one is here, no one has even left him a card.” I responded, staring at the old man.  
Marcus spoke next, “He has a daughter. He was telling me about her. Her name is Rose. She’s about 56 now. He doesn’t know where she lives anymore, or how to get ahold of her.”  
“That’s so sad.” Ebony said looking heartbroken. Her face brightened up, “I have an idea.” She said as she pulled out her cell phone. She pressed a few numbers and it was ringing. “Hello daddy? I need you to find someone for me…Her name is Rose Williams…Her father’s name is Jeremy Isaac Williams…He is 81, birthday is December 14th. She is 56, birthday is June 26th…659072341…Thank you daddy. I love you too.” She hung up. “She lives in Palm Valley. Can someone say road trip?”  
We were stunned. “That was fast.” George said. “What does your dad do?”  
She smiled. “That’s classified.”  
Zach laughed, “No it’s not, he’s a cop.”  
Ebony slapped him, “Shh! People still try to kill cops when they find out they’re cops!”  
We laughed, “I’m not gonna kill your dad.” George said, shaking his head. He looked at Marcus, “You get some rest. I’m gonna go with them. Jo is right, seeing him alone has been making me very sad.”  
Marcus smiled, resting his hand on the side of George’s face, “I knew you were going to say that. Have fun, but not too much fun.” He laughed, “I love you, George.”  
George smiled and grabbed his hand, “I love you, too Marcus.” He gently kissed his forehead and stood up. “Let’s go everyone.”

We boarded the bus to Palm Valley and began planning the best way to approach telling her why we were at her front door. By the time we got off the bus, we still had nothing. We found her street after an hour of searching, wandering up and down different roads and avenues. Her house was in the middle of her street, painted a bright blue in contrast to the rest of the grey and white houses. We slowly made our way up the stairs, and George knocked. When the door opened, there was gasp from our group. This little woman answered the door, hair turning grey. She looked at us, confused as to why a group of nine teenagers were at her doorstep. “Are y’all here to see Ronnie?”  
We were silent. Her staring intensified. Thomas broke the silence. “Are you Rose Williams?”  
“I was. Now I’m Rose Mason.” She looked even more confused.  
Brian spoke next. “Is your father’s name Jeremy?”  
She was surprised. “Yes. Who are you?”  
Again, our group was silent. I took a deep breath, “Ma’am, our friend was hit by a truck, and he is currently in the hospital. He has a roommate by the name of Jeremy Williams, and we found you hoping you were the daughter he told our friend about because no one is visiting him.”  
“That’s mighty sweet of you kids, but I haven’t spoken to my father is nearly twelve years.”  
Ebony smiled at her, a nice soft smile, “It’s never a bad time to start again. Please, come with us.”  
She stared at us again then looked at her feet. “I suppose you are right. Let me get my husband.” She laughed. “My dad loves him.”  
We stood at her doorway, and a few minutes later, Rose and her husband, whom we learned was Ronnie, came out. We walked with them back to the bus stop, learning what had happened between her and her father.  
“Nothing really happened between us. When I moved out here with Ronnie, we lost touch. How is he doing?” She asked, her expression a mix of hopeful and sad.  
George looked at his feet, then up at her, “He had a heart attack. The doctor said he’ll be okay, but he has to go in for surgery tomorrow to repair an artery.”  
This woman we had never met before started to cry in front of our very eyes. Rayne panicked and ran over to hug her. By the time we made it to the bus, she had stopped. It took us an hour to get back to the hospital after we boarded. Outside the entrance to the room, Rose became very nervous. “I don’t know about this.” She whispered. Her husband took her hands in his and said “You can do this babygirl. I believe in you and you love your father.”  
She took a deep breath, nodded, and walked into the room. The sound of the door woke her father up, and he was stunned by what he saw before him. “Rose? Is that really you?” She ran over to him. “Yes dad. It’s really me.” He threw his arms around her and the room was filled with tears. George sat at the foot of Marcus’s bed, and Marcus grabbed his hand.  
“You did good, babe.” Marcus said, tear starting down his cheek. “And I have some good news guys, I’m going home tomorrow.”


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve  
The next day, we piled into Zach’s car to help George get Marcus home from the hospital. By the time we got him and his wheel chair into the car, there was only enough room for Zach, Ebony, and George, so they rest of us ran to make the bus. When we got there, the bus was pulling in to the stop. We hopped on and took seats toward the back. We were talking for a few minutes, when we heard a crashing sound of metal running into metal. We all jumped and saw a car flipped over on the road to right of us, the bus driver called 911. For a few moments we were stunned to see it, and then we heard the driver yelling for help.  
I jumped up and ran off the bus, yelling, “We have to do something!” They weren’t too far behind me. Brian took a look at the damage, and said that we had minutes before it caught fire. The roof of the car was crushed against the ground.  
“Jo, you have to crawl and see if you can get his seat belt undone. You’re the only one tiny enough. If you can get him unbuckled, we can pull him out.” John said, sizing up the hole.  
“Are you sure you can get him?”  
“Yes. Take this in case the buckle won’t come out.” Brian said, handing me a knife he carries in his boot.  
“Okay, here goes nothing.” I crawled into the passenger side of the car. The man looked at me with fear in his eyes. “I’m here to help you. Can you move?”  
“Barely. I can wiggle.” He said, coughing from the dust the car pushed up.  
“I’m gonna cut your seatbelt off. I want you to put your hands above your head to brace for the fall. Okay?”  
“Yes.”  
I reached over and sawed through the belt, when it released, he slammed to the ceiling of the car, but there was a metal piece sticking into his stomach. “Don’t move.” He nodded. I crawled out of the car, “I cut the belt, but be careful. There is a bar in his abdomen.”  
Brian looked at the car, “We don’t have time to be careful. John, you get one arm, I’ll get the other. Thomas, watch for the bar.”  
“Got it.” They said together. “On the count of three. 1, 2, 3!” And they pulled. Through the man screaming in pain, I could tell they were getting him out. I crawled back in to make sure his legs were coming free. When they had him out, I wormed out and ran over to them. Just as I got to the other side of the street, the car was ablaze. We heard sirens approaching, but they seemed too far away. “We have to stop the bleeding!”  
“Here!” Rayne yelled, throwing her hoodie to Brian.  
“Okay, we have to pull the bar out. Sir, are you ready?”  
The man nodded. I counted, “1, 2, 3!” Thomas pulled, Brian pushed the hoodie down as hard as he could, next thing we knew the ambulance was on the scene. The medics put him on a stretcher and whisked him off to the hospital. The police took each of our statements. After what felt like hours later, we were allowed to get back on our bus and go home.

When we pulled up to our stop, we all went our separate ways home. Thomas and I were walking, the accident still on my mind.  
“You know something?” I said, “I don’t think it’s death people are afraid of.”  
He gave me a puzzling look, “What do you mean? Of course it is.”  
“Well think about it, death is inevitable. People prepare for it all their lives. Lives are just really the fill point between birth and death. What people are afraid of is the pain. The pain they might feel when it happens, and the pain they may cause to those they leave behind when they go. But what they really fear the most is that the people they leave behind won’t feel any pain about them being gone.”  
He stared at me for a long moment before taking my face in his hands, kissing me, and whispering, “I would feel pain if you were gone.”  
I smiled at him and took his hand. “I would feel pain if you were gone too.”  
“I’ll say it again, I see why your teachers thought you were a poet. You would be a morbid poet, but a poet nonetheless.”  
I laughed. “I’m just a realist. But that doesn’t stop me from seeing the beauty in nature. I mean, in Ohio, we would have so much snow we wouldn’t be able to drive straight. Here, I barely need a jacket to go out in the middle of winter. The differences I experience are marvelous to say the least. I miss snow. Its white crystals shine when the light hits it in just the right way, and it’s beautiful. Have you ever seen it?”  
Thomas shook his head. “I lived in Hawaii before we moved here. I’ve never lived anywhere that gets colder than thirty degrees.”  
I smiled at him. “I’ll have to show you sometime. It’s cold, but when you see the beauty in it, it can be worth it. Especially if you aren’t living in it.” I laughed, “I think you’d appreciate the beauty.”

We got home after dark, our walk taking a detour through the park so we could play on the swings. When I walked through the door, my dad stopped me right away. “Sweetheart! You need to come see the news! Get Thomas quick!” Confused, I yelled for Thomas from the back door, before he got into his house. He ran over, and we walked to the living room to find my dad rewinding news footage. When he pressed play, I saw that it was footage of the accident. It was recorded on a cell phone from someone nearby, and you could see everything. From us running off the bus, to me crawling into the car, to them pulling the bar out of his stomach. The caption running across the bottom said, “Selfless Newridge High Seniors Save Man’s Life,” we couldn’t believe it. The reporter was talking about each of us as we appeared on screen, showing our class photos next to the footage. It was replaying over and over again. I could hear the reporter, “These brave teenagers risked their lives to save Mr. James Sawyer, a local business owner. I’ve come to learn that these students are heroic, but they have told no one of their actions. These kids are not only modest and courageous, but talented. They are entered in the local Battle of the Bands contest coming up in just a few months. Our sources tell me that Mr. Sawyer is in recovery at Northwest hospital. His wife has released a statement, thanking those kids for their brave efforts. We will bring you more on this story at a later time.”  
I stared at the television, not believing what my ears were hearing. My dad staring at me, smile plastered to his face. “I am so proud of you sweetheart.” He said, coming in to hug me.  
When he left the room to get my mom, Thomas and I ran upstairs. Once we were locked inside my room. I sighed. “So much for being invisible.”  
Thomas chuckled as he sat down on the bed. “At least it was good news. They could’ve had footage of us watching the guy burn alive.”  
I smiled at him. “Thanks for trying to make me feel better. But people are gonna ask questions, and you know I can’t talk to people.” I sat next to him.  
He looked at me, “You do realize that since you’ve come here, you’ve stood up to the class bitch, talked to complete strangers to reunite a father and daughter, saved a man from burning alive, and won two rap battles? You can handle questions. And if you start to freak out, Marcus and I are in all of your classes. You’ll do great.” He put his arm around me.  
I leaned into his shoulder and whispered, “But what if no one likes me when I actually talk to them?”  
He kissed the top of my head. “Well then they’re crazy, because I love you.”  
I kissed him. “I love you, too.”  
My brother banged on the door. “Jo, open the door. Dad is afraid you guys are having sex.” We laughed. I got up and opened the door. “By the way, dad showed me the news footage. I’m glad you guys are okay.” He walked away. I sat back down and put my face in my hands.  
“What’s wrong babe?” Thomas looked at me, concern in his eyes.  
“I’m just afraid.”  
“Everyone’s afraid. That’s what makes us human. But you shouldn’t be afraid of those people. They are gonna judge you no matter what. It’s high school, it happens. What you should be afraid of is when you are no longer afraid. Because that’s when you are losing something you can never get back. Your humanity.”  
I kissed him again. “You’re smart. You know that?”  
He laughed and put his arm around me again. “I’ve been told once or twice.”


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen  
The next day was a blur. It was our usual Sunday routine, band practice and dinner. When I went to bed that night, I had a hard time sleeping. When it was time to get ready for school on Monday, I wanted to crawl back into bed and sleep for eternity, so long as I wouldn’t have to answer anyone’s questions about anything. Unfortunately for me, that’s not how things work in the real world. Only in my dreams. I forced myself to get dressed, and grabbed my bag. Leaving my board at home, so I could help Marcus get to school in his wheel chair. I climbed down to his balcony and knocked on the door. George let me in, and we got him down the stairs to the back door. When we finally got him outside, Thomas was waiting. “I figured you guys would need some help.”  
We got him into the parking lot, and we were off. Marcus was talking a mile a minute, “I saw you guys on the news last night. Geez, you miss the bus ride once, ya know?” He laughed, “I’m just kidding, but you guys did an amazing job. Jo, you risked getting fried to make sure he was going to get out okay. Heroism to say the least.” Thomas was pushing the chair, I was staring at my feet. I saw Thomas nudge Marcus out of the corner of my eye. When Marcus saw me, he stopped talking for a minute. “I’m sorry Jo. I hadn’t realized that it would upset you.” He slapped his forehead. “Duh! People are gonna be talking to you about it! I forgot you had issues with that. I’m so sorry.”  
“It’s okay. Let’s just get today over with.” I replied as we were walking up the drive to the school, as free period was ending. Brian, John, Rayne, Ebony and Phoenix waiting for us, standing there staring at me. “What?”  
Rayne said, “We saw the news. We’re worried you’ll have an anxiety attack or something.”  
I smiled at them, kissed Thomas on the cheek, and said “Thanks guys, but I think I’ll be okay. Especially when I know friends like you have my back.” They smiled, and we managed to get Marcus up the stairs to the front doors and in the building. There were flyers everywhere from the principal telling everyone to go to the auditorium during first period for a special announcement. We made our way down there, took seats near the front for the wheelchair access, and waited. There were news cameras set up, the reporters talking about something we couldn’t hear. After a few minutes, the principal walked on stage, quieted the students, and began to speak, “Over the weekend, our school had the light shined on us in a very special way. Six of our students did a miraculous thing, and today we are here to celebrate that.” I had a sick feeling in my gut. I slid down in my seat with Thomas taking my hand. “To help us celebrate this marvelous act of heroism, we have the mayor to award each student a medal. In honor of this event, we are presenting the footage recovered from passersby.” The video started, same as the news. It showed the whole thing, from running off the bus, to the bar in the abdomen. When it was over, the mayor was standing beside the principal on the stage.  
“That was courageous to say the least.” Mayor White said. “Now, if those students would please join me up on the stage.” The entire auditorium was cheering. The rest of our group stood up, but I couldn’t bring myself out of seat. Thomas looked down at me, whispering to just watch him and everything would be okay. He took my hand, and slowly I got up. Keeping my head down and my hand in his, we walked up the steps to the stage. The noise in the room was deafening, and we barely heard the mayor’s voice over the speakers announcing our names. “For their work in saving the life of a man they had never before met, I am honored to present these medals. First, I would like to thank Brian Emmerett and John Marsden, for their work in pulling the man out of the vehicle.” He hung medals around their necks and shook their hands. “Next, I would like to thank Rayne Seely and Phoenix Hope.” He hung their medals. Rayne was crying. “Thomas Hetter, for being brave enough to remove the bar from a man, who would not have made it otherwise.” Thomas didn’t release my hand, I was still staring at my feet. “And last, but certainly not least, the girl who had the courage to risk her life to climb inside the car and release the man, and back in to ensure his legs weren’t pinned.” He smiled at me. “I am honored to have this young girl as a new student at our school. Not only is she a hero, but she is an accomplished writer. I am proud to introduce, Jo Rayve.” I squeezed Thomas’s hand. He kept whispering that everything would be okay, just a few more minutes. The anxiety was building. I ran off the stage and through the doors, passed the gasping crowd. I was sitting outside the room when Thomas came out.  
“I’m sorry.” I said over my tears. “I can’t do that. I don’t know how I’ll be able to do the Battle of the Bands.”  
He held me close. “It’s okay. We’ll work through it.”  
I could hear Phoenix over the speaker, apologizing to everyone about my sudden absence. I was humiliated listening to someone describe my anxiety. Thomas wouldn’t let me go. “I feel like a freak.”  
“You aren’t a freak. You’re special.”  
“Yeah, maybe special ed.”  
He looked at me. It was a hard look, that wasn’t angry or judgmental, but it was like he was staring into my soul, like he could see right through me. “You know, there’s a version of you in there that you keep hiding. Maybe it’s because you’re afraid people won’t accept you, maybe it’s because you don’t think you’ll like that version if you show it too much. But I will tell you, that it’s the version of you that made me fall in love with you. The version of you that you show when you are performing, whether it be on the streets with Phantom or in Marcus’s music room, it something special. That’s the side of you that you need to show people.”  
I looked into his eyes and I could see that he honestly believed what he was saying. I embraced the comfort of his arms. “You are amazing.”  
He laughed. “Let me know when you start thinking otherwise.”  
I smiled at him. “Never.” I whispered, leaning up to give him a kiss. “Come on, we should go back inside.”  
He looked at me. “Or, we could skip the rest of the day.” He flashed that goofy half smile at me, took my hand, and ran out of the building.  
When we made it half way down the street, he texted Brian, asking them to take Marcus home. “Where are we going?” I asked him. “I’ve never ditched school without a destination.”  
“The beach.” He smiled at me. “There’s a view that you just have to see.”  
Two hours, and a lot of weaving through tourists later, we were at the top of a lighthouse. Breathing in the smell of the ocean, and watching the waves roll off the crystal sand, I had never felt more at peace with anyone. “This is breathtaking.” I whispered.  
“I know.” He smiled back. “I’m glad I’m sharing it with you.” He kissed me. I don’t know if it was my emotions still raging from the auditorium, the view from the top of the lighthouse, or if it was just that I loved him, but there was so much electricity in that kiss that I could feel it in my knees. He pulled away, but only long enough for me to hear “Wow.” And his lips were back on mine. We were kissing more now than we had in the months we were together, and it was an amazing time. I felt like anything I needed in the world, I could find it in his lips. When we stopped, we stared at each other for a while. He spoke first, “I’m really glad you moved here.”  
I smiled, and he smiled back. “So am I.” He put his arm around me and I leaned into his shoulder, “How do you always manage to do that?”  
“Do what? Put my arm around you?”  
I giggled, “No, turn a bad situation into a perfect moment.”  
He smiled bigger, “I have a special talent that I use for the people I love.” He kissed the top of my head. “Come on, if we head back now we can still make band practice.”  
I grinned. “Yeah, might as well get to the only place I can be in front of people.” We laughed, and started our journey back through the tourists. It seemed like they multiplied over the hour we were in the lighthouse. Swerving around group after group of people staring at us, we finally made it to the bus stop. “Why were they staring at us?” I asked as I turned to look at Thomas. I saw the medal around his neck and immediately started laughing. As I took mine off, I said “Oh yeah, we got these today,” and I shoved it in my bag. After what seemed like hours, the bus pulled into our stop.  
Thomas took my hand, woke me up, and we started walking back home. “I can feel you’re tense.” He looked at me, “What’s wrong?”  
“I’m worried.”  
He eyes shifted to concern, “What about?”  
“The Battle of the Bands.” He laughed. “I couldn’t even stand on stage when I wasn’t the one talking.”  
He put his arm around me, “I’ve noticed that when you perform, you go into a world. Now, you don’t even seem to realize it, but you do. You go into the same kind of world as the people at the Ferris wheel, nothing matters to you but getting the words out. That’s how I know you’ll be great on stage. You’ll be afraid at first, but if you can focus on the people who’ve already seen you perform, you’ll do amazing.”  
I leaned into as we walked up the drive way to Marcus’s apartment, “I sure hope you’re right. I wish I had the confidence in me that you guys do.”  
George opened the front door. “They’ve been worried about you.”  
“I know, I’m sorry.” I said, looking down at my feet.  
We ran up the stairs to the music room and Phoenix, Rayne, and Ebony tackled me in hugs. “We thought you ran away forever!”  
I laughed, “I couldn’t leave you guys forever without saying goodbye.” I stood up, “I’m sorry though guys, I don’t know if you guys still want me in the band knowing I have issues being on stage.”  
“Are you crazy?” They said in unison. “Of course we want you in the band.”  
Marcus smiled, “We actually got you something on the way home that might make you feel better.”  
I was puzzled, “What?”  
Brian pulled a box out from behind his drum set, “Just open it. It’ll make you feel more like one of us.”  
I took the lid off the box, unfolded the tissue paper, to reveal a jean jacket with ‘Mathletes’ graffiti painted on the back of it. I started to cry, “You guys this is amazing.”  
They smiled, John said, “We figured it would make you feel like a full member of the band.”  
Phoenix looked at me hopeful, “Group hug?”  
I nodded, “Group hug.” Everyone came in for the hug, and it was very emotional for me. I whispered after the hug was over, “Except for Jess and Al back in Ohio, this was the most I had ever been accepted by anyone.”  
Thomas gave me a kiss, “We love you just the way you are. Whether that means you go on stage with us and we rock, or you go on stage and run, we’re still a band.”  
Marcus laughed, “We’re more than a band. You guys came to me in the hospital every day. You guys did team work to rescue a man from dying and reunite a father and daughter. We’re a family.”  
I hugged him. “You’re right. We are a family.”


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen  
Over the next four months, we practiced every day. By the time the Battle of the Bands came around, we had changed our song, and we were ready. Well, they were ready. I was still a nervous wreck. In mid-afternoon that Saturday, Phoenix, Ebony, and Rayne dragged me into my room.  
Ebony looked me up and down and said, “We’re gonna help you get dressed.”  
I laughed, “Help? Why can’t I just wear my skinny jeans and a t-shirt?”  
Phoenix stared at me in the eyes, “Because that’s too every day. Trust us.”  
After digging around in my closet for at least a half an hour, they finally agreed on my wardrobe. I stared at it, shaking my head. “I would never wear that in front of so many people!”  
Ebony laughed, “For the record, on an ordinary day, you wouldn’t let yourself get in front of so many people.” She smiled. “Now put it on.”  
I groaned, but the grab the clothes and walked into my bathroom. After I was dressed, Ebony came in to attack my hair and face. I heard them call the boys up to see my new outfit, and I wanted to keep hiding in the tub and hope they would never find me, but I gave in and came out.  
They were staring. Not so much at me, but at the outfit. The girls had forced me to put on a green and black plaid skirt, black torn tights, motorcycle boots, and off the shoulder midriff shirt to go under my jacket that said ‘Pain is pleasure if it comes from a needle’ in small white letters. “It looks bad doesn’t it? I knew it would look bad. This was a terrible idea. Why did I let you guys dress me?”  
Thomas interrupted my rambling, “Babe, you look amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wear make-up before.”  
I laughed, “You haven’t. I hate it.”  
Ebony smiled, “Well, you look great. Now if excuse me, I have to get to my cousin’s house. I’m still in her band. I will see you guys after you win.” She walked out the door.  
“Well, she has some confidence in us.”  
Marcus, who had gotten his casts off the previous week, laughed and walked over to me. Putting his arm around me, he said, “Joby, it’s not us she has confidence in. It’s you. You look amazing, and you are gonna rock tonight.” I smiled at him, and he looked at the guys, “Now come on, we better get ready so she doesn’t show us up too bad.”  
Three hours later, we were at the show. Ebony and her cousin’s band were on stage, getting ready to sing ‘I’ll Try to be Your Hero’, and we were getting ready to cheer her on. When she started singing, I had no idea she had a voice like she did. She sounded astounding.  
 _"I can try to be your hero_  
 _But you know I never turn out right_  
 _You’ve never seen me alone_  
 _With my red lines out of sight_  
 _I can try to be your hero_  
 _But I can’t find the strength to be my own_  
 _Please don’t leave me_  
 _I can’t find the strength all alone"_  
I was staring at Ebony from behind the curtain. Her voice was beautiful, and even I could see that she felt the lyrics in her heart. After you a few minutes of listening, the song ended and we heard the announcer say “Give it up for The Babes!” We laughed. When Ebony came backstage, Brian looked at her, “The Babes?”  
She playfully punched his arm, “It’s not my band,” she laughed, “I didn’t come up with the name.”  
I smiled at her, “You sounded amazing.”  
She smiled back, “Thank you. I’m glad we did your song.”  
A few different bands went on and performed, none of the names really stood out. When it was our turn, I panicked. “Thomas, I can’t do this.”  
He took my hand, “I know you can. Just don’t look at the crowd.”  
We walked on stage, and I faced the band. That is until I heard “It’s the queen!”  
I looked out at the crowd, and among the sea of strangers, I laughed at the familiar faces I saw in the front row. Not only did Jess and Al come all the way from Ohio, but Jeremy and his daughter Rose, Mr. Sawyer, and Phantom and his crew were ready and waiting to hear us.  
I felt a peace hit me as Brian started the mark for the song. John led us off, and Thomas was right, it was like I hit my own little world.  
" _You don’t know who I am_  
 _You wouldn’t know my name_  
 _You barely know my face_  
 _Isn’t that a shame?_  
 _Living in a world_  
 _Where friends aren’t friends_  
 _And even in life_  
 _You expect it all to end_  
 _It was my turn. I took a deep breath._  
 _You don’t know me_  
 _Just listen up and you’ll see_  
 _I might be an extraterrestrial_  
 _But I can be respectable_  
 _I don’t know who you are_  
 _But why does it gotta go so far?_  
 _I’m new to your planet_  
 _I don’t want to take it for granted_  
 _Show me the ropes_  
 _And we’ll spring a new hope_  
 _Neighbors know neighbors_  
 _And we can keep ships in a harbor_  
 _We can stand together and take hands_  
 _United we stand_  
 _I used to be shy_  
 _Then I asked myself why_  
 _I shouldn’t be ashamed_  
 _I’ve done nothing to dishonor my name_  
 _So just listen to our resolution_  
 _We don’t want to start a revolution_  
 _We all stand for each other_  
 _We don’t need to be blood to be brothers_  
 _John smiled at me and continued_  
 _Brothers are your family_  
 _It’s like a fraternity_  
 _No blood has to be shared_  
 _It’s a decency compared_  
 _We are a family_  
 _From now until eternity_  
 _It was my turn one last time._  
 _A family forever fitted together_  
 _We’ll be each other’s tether_  
 _Keep us grounded and alive_  
 _Our little family of five_  
 _We keep it growing with a few_  
 _We want to include all of you_  
 _Why be strangers forever_  
 _When we can share this together"_  
The song ended. Marcus ran over and hugged me. They announced us one more time. “Let’s have another round of applause for The Mathletes! I want to take a moment before the judges deliberate and remind everyone that the winner of this contest gets a record deal with Musik Records!” I couldn’t believe it, I did it. I performed in front of all these people, and they were going crazy. I looked around for Thomas, but he was already off the stage. The four of us smiled, met up with Ebony, Phoenix, Rayne, and George, and walked backstage together to find Anna kissing Thomas.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen  
Heartbroken, I ran away in tears. The guys stayed behind with Phoenix, while Ebony and Rayne chased after me. They were stunned and silent for only a moment before Thomas pushed Anna away from him and said “Get away from me. I’m in love with Jo.”  
“Well that sure didn’t let you stop me.” Anna said with a smirk. “But oh well,” she nodded to the guys, “You’re little princess already saw it and that’s all I wanted.”  
Marcus looked at her coldly, “Why?”  
“Because she’s a loser!” Anna snapped. “She is supposed to stay a loser. And she took my best friend away.”  
Brian was surprised. “So you are doing this because Ebony isn’t a mean bitch anymore?”  
“It’s not fair! Ebony and I were friends before her and her brother showed up!”  
Phoenix shouted, “You are a bitch!” Before punching Anna in the face so hard, she broke her nose. Shaking her fist after, Phoenix looked at the blood, “I hope you feel good about yourself. They were perfect together and you just broke her heart.”  
Thomas stood there, “Where did she go?”  
They shook their heads, “We don’t know,” George said, “Ebony and Rayne chased after her. But from the expression on her face, I don’t think she’ll be willing to talk to you.”  
“I have to try.”  
Marcus looked him dead in the eye. “Do you love her?”  
“Yes. More than anything in the world.”  
“Well then, let’s get my best friend back. Here’s the plan.”

Hours were passing, I was hiding at the pier. I looked up at the Ferris wheel, remembering everything that happened there. I shoved the ring he gave me into my pocket, wanting to throw it into the ocean. I didn’t think anyone knew where to find me, at least until Rayne and Phoenix walked up. “You have to come with us.” Rayne said.  
I looked at Phoenix’s hand, casted to her wrist, “What happened?”  
Phoenix laughed, “I broke some fingers. Let’s say I was boxing.” She took my hand with her good one. “Come on. There’s something you gotta see.”  
“You guys, I don’t want to go anywhere. Right now, I just want to curl up in bed and cry until I run out of tears, then I wanna cry some more.”  
Rayne attempted to smile at me. “Have you talked to him?”  
I shook my head, “He keeps calling and texting me and I’m ignoring them.”  
“Why?”  
“Because I saw him, so what is there to say?”  
“At least look at this picture. Marcus sent it to me.” She showed me a picture of Brian and John holding the trophy. “You guys won the battle.”  
I laughed. “And then I walked backstage and lost the war.” They fell silent. “I appreciate what you guys are trying to do, I really do. But I’m going home.”  
They tried to stop me, but I ignored their arguments. I walked home from the pier, by the time I got there, it was around six in the morning. I climbed up my balcony, ignoring whoever was calling my name behind me. I threw on my sweatpants and crawled into bed without changing my shirt. My plan was to sleep, but unfortunately I couldn’t. I tossed back and forth until the sun came up. Tear stains on my pillow from the make up running. I got a shower, cleaned my face, and straightened my hair. I sat back on my bed, staring at my wrists. I walked down the stairs to the kitchen to get a drink, without my usual bracelets on. Zach saw the scars and remembered how I used to be. Ebony must have told him what happened at the battle, because he walked over and hugged me. “Please don’t go back to that.”  
I just looked down. “I don’t know.”  
I went back up to my room, shut the door, and walked over to my desk. I opened the drawer and found my pocket knife. I sat on my bed, staring at for a long time. Just as I went to open it, but brother burst through the door, grabbing the knife from me. “I’m not letting you relapse. You mean too damn much to me for that.”  
“Why? I apparently don’t mean much to anyone else.”  
“You really think that? You really think he would do that to you after everything?”  
I sighed. “I don’t know what to think anymore. I’m going back to bed.” I crawled back under my covers.  
I could hear my brother whisper, “He wouldn’t just do that.” And gently close my bedroom door behind.  
I fell asleep for what seemed like hours, when I woke up to a noise outside my balcony, I looked at the clock and realized it had only been forty five minutes. I tried ignoring it, but my balcony door was open behind the curtain, and the noise came in so clear.  
I heard singing from a voice I didn’t recognize. Zach came into my room.  
“She’s the girl that no one ever knows  
And I say hi but she’s too shy to say hello  
She’s just waiting for that one  
To take her hand and shake her up  
I bet I could”  
I looked at Zach, he shrugged his shoulders, so I walked out onto my balcony, him close behind. The sight before me was astounding to say the least. Thomas had the guys in the parking lot playing their instruments, and he was singing ‘Say You Like Me’ by We The Kings.  
“ _I wish my heart was always on her mind_  
 _Cause she’s on mine like all day, all the time_  
 _Forget me not, forget me now_  
 _I’ve come too far to turn around_  
 _I’m here tonight_  
 _Cause I’m never going down_  
 _I’m never giving up_  
 _I’m never gonna leave_  
 _So put your hands up_  
 _If you like me_  
 _Then say you like me”_  
Zach looked at me and said “If you don’t take him back, I might just have to ask him out.”  
I wanted to laugh, but instead I said, “Then ask him out.” And I walked back into my room. After a few minutes, the music stopped. They were yelling my name. Thomas, Marcus, John, Brian, and other voices I recognized. I walked back out to see Mr. Sawyer, Jeremy and Rose, and Phantom and his crew, all holding signs, telling me what really happened. I started crying, and ran back in the house. I was staring over my desk, at the bulletin board that hung there. I saw pictures from that last few months. They were from the festival in February, from band practice, from on top of the Ferris wheel on our first date, from walking to the driveway and meeting his parents. They were hitting my heart with a pain I had never felt before, and I was having a hard time breathing. My brother came back in, and I was clutching my chest. I heard him yelling for someone to call an ambulance, and next thing I knew, Thomas was in my room and beside me. When he took my hand, something inside of me calmed. Suddenly, I was able to breath. I felt the weight being lifted off of me and I hugged him. He held on tight and kept whispering that he was sorry. After a few minutes, paramedics were there, and when we told them what happened, they insisted on taking me to the hospital for a check out. After a few hours of sitting in the bed, they told me that I had a minor cardiac attack. As it turns out, you can die of a broken heart. I got lucky, the doctor said I was close, but I was okay to go home.  
When I made it home, I was exhausted all over again. All I wanted to do for the rest of the night was go to bed, but that wasn’t an option. When I walked through the front door with my parents, Marcus and the gang were all waiting for me. I was immediately pulled into a group hug that there was no escape from. When it was over, I looked at everyone and took in what I saw. Rayne was crying happy tears that I was home, John trying and to get her to stop. Phoenix was trying to cut her cast off, Brian laughing and taking the knife from her. Marcus staring at George like he was the only guy in the room, and George drawing little hearts on his hand. My parents waving goodbye as they went to bed. Zach dancing with Ebony to music that wasn’t playing, Ebony laughing as she let him lead her in circles. Thomas watching me.  
He walked over and whispered, “Whatcha thinking?”  
I smiled. “The same thing I thought on top of that Ferris wheel. Everyone disappears except the people they are with, and it’s a beautiful sight.” I took his hand. “And even though what happened happened, I wouldn’t want to share those sights with anyone else.” I kissed his cheek.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen  
The next month went by like a blur. We graduated high school, and it seemed like before I could blink summer was here. John and Brian proposed, so half the band was engaged. It was time for some of us to go to college, and it was time for the Mathletes to go recording for winning the Battle of the Bands. Unfortunately, not all the Mathletes were planning on it.  
“You can’t leave now!” Marcus whined.  
“I have to. I got accepted into NYU. I’ve always told you guys that this was what I wanted to do.” Thomas said.  
I frowned at him. “Please give me one more day. I have a surprise for you.”  
Thomas stared at me. “One more day. But tomorrow I have to leave or they won’t keep my dorm room.”  
“Deal.” I smiled at him. “Be ready in 2 hours.”  
I walked out of the room. Marcus and Thomas were still arguing until I was out of ear shot. Then Marcus changed the subject. “So have you told her yet?” Smile brightly plastered to his face.  
Thomas laughed, “No, I haven’t. I will tonight.”  
Marcus smiled even bigger. “I wish I could be there!”  
“Have you asked George yet?”  
“Not yet. I was doing it tonight at the pier.”  
Thomas laughed, “Well I bet we’ll see you there. Every time one of us ‘surprises’ the other, it’s to the Ferris wheel. It’s our favorite place.”  
“That is beyond adorable.” Marcus said, “I am gonna ask him at the end by water.”  
“Very nice.” Thomas smiled, “Do you think it’s weird that I am going to ruin her surprise with one of my own?”  
“Naw, I think she’ll love it.”

Two hours later, I climbed down the balconies to the parking lot to find Thomas waiting. “You ready to go?” I smiled at him.  
“As long as you are.” He smiled back, I grabbed his hand. We walked to the bus stop, and as the bus pulled up he said, “Let me guess, we’re going to the pier?”  
I laughed. “Yes we are. That’s our spot babe.”  
On the bus, I tried convincing him to stay with us and do the music, but he was set on NYU.  
“I remember telling your father that I wanted to become a math professor, and I would only do music as a side career if I could.”  
I sighed. “I know.” I leaned into him, “I just wish I could convince you to stay.”  
He kissed the top of my head. “If anyone could it would be you.”  
The bus pulled up to our stop, and we climbed off the bus. Walking down the street, it was like our first date again. We went to Mickey D’s, and while we were eating, we ran into Phantom and his crew. Instead of the hand grab slide, he hugged me. “When you guys make it big, don’t forget about me a’ight?”  
I laughed, “Phantom, I could never forget about you. If I hadn’t rapped against you, I never would’ve had the courage to go on stage. I just have one question for you.”  
“Shoot, lil ma, you can ask me anything.”  
“What on Earth is your real name?”  
He laughed. “It’s Alexander. But that’s not a very rapper name now is it?”  
I smiled. “No, but it’s a great name to call a friend.” I hugged him again. “Keep in touch, okay?”  
“You got it, ma.” He smiled. “Long live our queen.” We laughed, and as I waved goodbye, it finally hit me that I was losing people again.  
“What’s wrong?” Thomas asked, looking at my face. “You look like you’ve got some deep thoughts going on.”  
I shook my head. “It’s just…it’s finally occurring to me that we’re all doing different things, you’re going to NYU, the rest of us are going to start recording, Zach and Ebony are doing God only knows what, we’re all going and moving on, and Phantom is gonna be right here. He’s gonna be the constant that we can always come back if we forget how we started this crazy journey. I mean how many people can say that they started their big life by battling a street artist? Really only us. It’s something the five of us have that no one can take away. These memories are what’s gonna hold us together when we’re a nation apart.”  
Thomas smiled nostalgically, “All those times we’ve come here, and you’ve never said a damn thing that was deep and profound.”  
I laughed. “Can I ask you something?”  
“Always.”  
“Why did you choose me?”  
“What do you mean?” He face showed genuine confusion.  
“Of all the people in our lifetimes, in this city, at our school, you chose me. You picked me to take a chance with, even though at any point one of us could destroy this whole thing, you chose me. Aren’t you afraid that one day it will end?”  
“Whether it ends or not is not a question. Some things end, but as for us…well to quote a famous author, ‘It would be an honor to have my heart broken by you.’”  
I smiled, and he snaked his arm around my waist. Watching all the people walk around, some alone, some in groups, some in couples, I was mesmerized by the beauty all over again. There must have been some sign in my face, some signal lost in translation to anyone else around me, except for Thomas. “That right there.”  
“What?” I laughed, confused at what he was looking at.  
“When you get lost in the world of beauty no one else sees, your eyes light up. When you perform, you have an astounding glow about you that is almost indistinguishable to the naked eye. You absorb everything at once, and yet you notice the tiny details that make each and every little thing important. That, my beautiful girl, is why I chose you.” He kissed my forehead. “Though with all the beauty in your soul, it wasn’t much of a choice.”  
I kissed his cheek, “You know, there just might be a poet in you yet.” I smiled. “So you ready for the surprise?”  
“I thought the surprise was coming to the pier.” He chuckled.  
I smirked at him, “We both know that that’s not much of a surprise anymore.” He smiled his goofy grin, “Then what is this big surprise?”  
I smiled, pulling a blindfold out of my bag, “You’ll see.” I said, tying it firmly into place.  
“You better not lead me into a pole!” He muttered, just as he released my hand and walked head first into a telephone pole. “Hey!” He shouted, “Don’t hey me!” I shouted back, “You did it!”  
After a few yards, I guided him into a building we’d never entered. At first, I was so astounded by the beauty that I forgot to take his blindfold off, but he didn’t wait for me to, “Whoa.” I heard over my shoulder, “Where are we?” The room we had entered exploded with color. Streamers hung every which way from the rafters standing dozens of feet above our heads, balloons filled with helium reaching just high enough to meet them, while others filled with air fell to the ground, across the marble floors, sat one table, in a decorated room bare of all other furniture but a small stage. As we crossed the room, I turned back and smiled at Thomas, the curious look on his face only growing. “Jo, what’s going on?”  
“Our own little album release party.” Marcus said, coming around the corner. He smiled, “It was Jo’s idea. Since the actual party will be full of people we don’t know, this is all ours.” Marcus reached down, grabbing a CD case, and tossed it to Thomas. “Bootlegs only.” Thomas looked at it, slowly rotating the case in his hands.  
“We did it.” I smiled at him. The cover, as I was seeing for the first time, was a picture from a band rehearsal, when Phoenix talked us into letting her use her camera. It was a shot of the group, smiling and laughing, not a care in the world, taken without our knowledge. Scrawled, in graffiti-esque type writing we the words **“The Mathletes: We Are Survivors.”**  
“You guys do realize that this is perfect right?” Thomas said, a smile bigger than I had ever seen slowly spread its way across his face. “Who all is coming to our early release party?”  
“Everyone who matters.” Marcus said, smirking like he had a secret.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen  
In just a few minutes, the room was nearly filled. People from all of our adventures together were everywhere, while speakers high above our heads played out with the music we spent so much time working on. Phantom and his crew, Jeremy, Rose, everyone we had come in contact with since we became a family. I saw tears and smiles, hugs and high fives, the people around me losing themselves in conversation. Marcus came running over, “Joby! Are you ready for this?” he said, smiling bigger than ever before.  
“I sure hope so.” I said, thinking back to everything we had gone through together, “It can only get better on this journey right?”  
He smiled at me, looking me in the eye, “You know we’re here right?”  
I smiled back, “At least you are.” My eyes glancing around the room, and falling on Thomas. “I can’t believe after all of this, he’s going to NYU.”  
“Yeah,” Marcus said, smiling to himself, “I just can’t believe it.” He grabbed my hand, “Come on, you have to be there when I do this.” Pulling me along, Marcus made his way to the top of the stage, speaking into the microphone he said, “Can I get everyone’s attention? Please. Turn the music down? Thank you. I want to tell you guys a little story.” Thomas, Brian, John, Phoenix, Rayne, and George made their ways onstage. “I want you all to know how my best friend, no offense guys,” he laughed, “Became the front man—or woman, to The Mathletes. It started about June a year ago, her family moved in next door, and being the wonderful cook I am, I bought them some brownies.” Everyone laughed. “I walked them over and saw little miss black attitude sitting on the stoop, fiddling with a notebook. Naturally, as a person she had only met one time, I took the notebook and read what was written on the pages. They were the lyrics to one of the best songs I had ever read. From that day, we spent the summer together, going to the beach, or the arcade, or just sitting at home watching movies. If I wasn’t so flaming people probably would have thought we were together.” I laughed, looking at my best friend. “Something I hope everyone realizes while we stand here tonight, is that she was not always this open.” A few people nodded in the crowd, or let out an ‘Amen!’, and Marcus continued, “She was the girl that would run away when someone said hi to her, I don’t know what it was about me that she allowed herself to be as open as she was, but it was a wonderful thing. She was a caring girl, with a world of possibilities before her, and she became friends with the gay neighbor boy.” Marcus looked over at me and smiled. “What’s better than that, is although she doesn’t seem to remember, but after hanging out for about a month last summer, we were at the movie complex to see ‘The Fault in Our Stars’, because we had both read the book—which let me tell you was not okay—when I saw a boy. I was taken away by his beauty, and she told me to talk to him. Argued with me that I would never meet someone if I was as antisocial as she was, so while she went to the bathroom, I trotted over to this boy and got his phone number.” He took George’s hand, “And here is that boy today. Because of this girl, I have met the love of my life. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I had let that moment pass me by. But more than that, she opened my eyes, that she couldn’t be as antisocial as she was. So when school came around, I introduced her to the boys, and things skyrocketed from there. I spent a whole summer listening to this girl sing and rap from the safety of her bedroom, and I had to find a way to share it with the world. And since bugging her room wasn’t exactly legal, this,” Marcus held up a CD, “is the best way to do it. This girl became our front man and took us farther than we ever thought we’d go.”  
I hugged him, taking the microphone, and a few deep breaths, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is probably about to be the most any of you have heard me talk, but I want to share something with you.” A few more deep breaths. “These boys and girls on stage with me? They have become an addition to my family that I never would have dreamed of. A year ago, hell even a few months ago I would have ran away if any of you so much as looked at me, let alone said hello. Thanks to these guys, I have finally opened up, and don’t break down in front of people. At least not every time.” I laughed, “All in all, we have helped each other.” I thought back to the six month party, “We have healed each other.” Memories flooded through my brain, “We have strengthened each other, and we have established together. We are here today, and we are survivors.” Marcus clapped, and soon everyone else was, too.  
When the clapping died down enough, I handed the microphone to Thomas, who had walked to the front of the stage. “Before Marcus steals the spotlight again, I wanted to let all of you know, I’m not moving away! I’m taking my classes online, so I’m staying in LA, and you all have to put up with me now.” He smiled at me, I ran over and tackled him with a hug. When we got back up, I asked why he didn’t tell me sooner, and he said it was part of the surprise.  
When he handed the microphone back to Marcus, he looked around at us, and everyone in the crowd, and then his eyes settled on George. “Not too upstage Thomas’s news too much,” he laughed, “But hun, you mean the world to me. You’ve changed my way of thinking about myself, and about love. You have been nothing but the sweetest to me, from the day we met, to my stay in the hospital, to this night. I am so thankful to have you in my life, and I never want you to leave it. You are the most amazing man I have ever met, and I know we are young, and I know there are many more years ahead of both of us, but I want to spend them all with you.” Marcus knelt down, taking George’s hands in his. “Please, say yes. Will you marry me?” George started to cry. “Of course I will!” He shouted, Marcus jumping up and wrapping his arms around him, kissing his forehead. He slid a simple ring onto George’s finger. I ran over to them hugging them both, everyone in the audience and on stage cheering. Congratulations filled the air, and I had never seen my best friend so happy.  
They were about to turn the music back up when someone burst through the door. A face that seemed vaguely familiar, shouting, “I told you that you were gonna regret this! You really think you are gonna make a fool of me in front of my people and get away with it? Are you that stupid?” The Joke.  
“What’s going on?” Brian asked, clearly feeling like he wasn’t in the loop.  
“Joke, I don’t even know your real name!” I yelled across the room, as he was pushing his way to the front.  
“You ran away from your demise that day girl, and you are not getting away from it again.”  
“What are you talking about? It was just a street battle dawg!” Phantom, or rather Alexander, said from the back.  
“This bitch ruined everything I worked for and made me a laughing stock in my own crew, and that is not something I stand for.” Pulling his hand from under his shirt, The Joke yelled, “I hope you are proud of yourself!” And fired.  
A second passed by, and I didn’t feel anything as I witnessed Phantom and Zach tackle Joke to the ground. Hearing a thud, I spun around, seeing George fall to the ground. Marcus screamed, dropping to the floor, putting pressure on the wound. I went to my knees, helping to stop the bleeding. Marcus sobbing when Brian led him away, assorted screams from the crowd. “I called 911,” John said, rushing over to help me. “What can we do?”  
“I don’t-I don’t know!” I was beginning to panic, putting pressure on the wound.  
“Please Jo!” Marcus cried from across the room, “You helped someone before, please!”  
I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting back the tears. ‘You can’t disappoint him.’ I thought to myself. “Okay, Brian, come keep pressure on this.” I shouted, pulling his hands down over the wound. “Got it.” He said, leaning down beside George. “John! We’re gonna start CPR okay? You’re gonna help me with chest compressions, on my count. Got it?” John nodded, placing his hands on George’s sternum. I crawled up to George’s face, “Stay with me, okay?” He nodded, pain evident on his face. “I’m sorry, George. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”  
Tears streaming down the sides of his face, he slowly moved his hand up, above his head, through the chest compressions, and whispered softly, “Marcus?”  
“Marcus!” I called, and he ran over, grabbing George’s hand.  
“Sweetheart,” George whispered, “Don’t you worry about me.” Taking his hand to wipe away Marcus’s tears. George turned to look at me, “I want you to know that I don’t blame you for this.” He struggled for a smile, trying to breathe through John pressing against his chest, he looked back at Marcus, “You will always be my number one, babe. If I don’t make it, I’m just glad to know that you were ready to spend the rest of your life with me.” He gently pulled Marcus down into a kiss. “Just promise you won’t forget about me.”  
Finally, the ambulance pulled up outside, and the EMTs ran in. The same EMTs we met with Mr. Sawyer. They immediately took over, having Brian keep pressure until they got him on the stretcher. As they loaded him into the ambulance, George lost consciousness. The police arriving within minutes of the ambulance pulling out, taking Joke into custody.  
“So why did you shoot him?" Officer Rodriguez asked.  
“I didn’t mean to shoot him. I meant to shoot her.” Joke said, glaring at me.  
“Yeah,” Officer Laehy said, “and why would you want to shoot that quiet little girl?”  
“Because he was jealous.” Phantom said, coming out of the building.  
Officer Laehy smiled, “Oh, Alexander, nice to see you again. What do you mean he was jealous?”  
“I beat him in a rap battle before.” I whispered, looking down at George’s blood on my hands. “And he shot an innocent man!” I screamed, lunging forward and punching Joke in the nose. Thomas and Zach grabbed me, holding me back. “George never did a damn thing to you! If you wanted to hurt me, then you should have hurt me! Why do you have to be such a terrible shot?” I was still screaming.  
Officer Laehy looked at us, sorrow in his eyes. “I’m sorry this happened to you, kids. Any friend of Alexander’s is a friend of the departments, and Stanley here isn’t getting away with the attempted murder of you, or the potential murder of an upstanding gentleman.” He looked back at Phantom, “Tell your folks I said hello.”  
Phantom stopped him, “I will, but before you go, will you please tie your shoes for just one second?”  
Officers Laehy and Rodriguez saw Marcus behind Phantom, fists shaking at his sides. They looked at each other, and turned around for just one second, Marcus slammed his fist into Joke’s face. They turned back around, “Feel any better kid?” Marcus shook his head. “Yeah…we’re sorry.”  
As they put Joke in the cruiser, he was yelling about how this was police cruelty, and how he would sue everyone, as Officer Rodriguez lowered him in, he hit Joke’s head off the top of the cruiser. “Oops, I’m sorry.” He said, looking at us, “How clumsy of me.”  
When they pulled away, my parents pulled up to the curb in an SUV, “Hop in.” My dad, driving, said, “Come on now, we better go now if we want to get to the hospital before he’s out of surgery.” I turned around to the party goers, “We’re sorry everyone, we have to go.” Everyone nodded, some yelling things like “Just go! Get out of here,” everyone wishing Marcus luck.  
We flew down the highway, racing towards the hospital, Marcus curled up against Thomas and myself, sobbing, wishing his love would be okay. “I’m so sorry.” I whispered to him, over and over again.  
When we arrived to the hospital, the nurses immediately assumed one of us were hurt, with George’s blood still on all of our clothes. “We’re here for the shooting victim that was brought in a few minutes ago.” John said, holding onto a crying Rayne.  
“He’s still in surgery sweetheart. You’ll have to wait, but I can take you upstairs to the waiting room.” She started walking.  
“Thank you,” Brian said next, “How long until he is out of surgery?”  
“Oh hunny, only his surgeon could tell you that, I have no idea how severe it is.” She looked puzzled for a moment. “I must ask you, I saw a ring on that boy’s finger, any idea where we can find his wife?”  
Marcus was sobbing too much to answer, so Zach nudged him forward, “This is his fiancé. They got engaged right before the shooting.”  
The nurse dropped her clipboard with a thud, pulling Marcus into a hug, “I am so sorry dear. Our best surgeon is working on him, alright?” She paused, “In fact, it’s the same one that worked on you.” She smiled. “And if that doesn’t help reassure you, I don’t know what will.” She kept her arms around Marcus, holding him tightly until he was able to stop sobbing. “You feel better?” He nodded. “Good, well this is your stop my dears.” She waved her arm in a big circle, showing what looked like a large break room, complete with couches and pop machines. We sat there, for what felt like hours before anyone said a word. It was Marcus, “Jo, I want you to know that I agree with George.” We all looked at him. “I can tell by looking at your face that you feel guilty over this, and I don’t blame you for it.” He gently hugged me. Then the doctor came in.  
“Well, if it isn’t my favorite patient.” He said, in an attempt to put a smile on Marcus’s face. “How is he?” Marcus blurted out, the doctor’s expression saddened. “We were able to retrieve the bullet, it’s on its way to the police now. You should know that it doesn’t look good. The bullet pierced his aorta, ricocheted off his shoulder blade, and landed in his lung. We were able to stop the bleeding, but for now it’s a sit and wait kind of thing, it’s all very touch and go. There is a chest tube in to drain the blood.” Marcus fell to his knees. “Can I see him?”  
The doctor frowned for a moment, “He needs to rest, but if you would like to go in by yourself, then I can permit that.”  
Marcus turned to us, I spoke up, “Go ahead. We’ll be right here if you need us, but I’m gonna have my mom bring you a change of clothes later, alright?” Marcus nodded and followed the doctor out of the room.

Two days later, with Marcus at his side, George regained consciousness long enough to give him one last kiss, and whisper, “I love you, babe.”  
“Promise?”  
“Promise.”  
We arrived at the hospital within the hour from Joke’s court hearing, consoling a broken hearted Marcus. A week later, we were standing in the cemetery, when Marcus asked me to sing. “George would have loved it.” He said, leading me to the front of the gathering. He looked down, tears falling from his face, so I took a deep breath.  
" _With the face of an angel_  
 _Taken from this world too soon_  
 _With the heart of a saint_  
 _Lifting our hearts from the gloom_  
 _This boy had a soul to be blessed_  
 _Today we lay him here to rest_  
 _Carried on by his one true love_  
 _As he’s watching down from high above_  
 _Marcus took my hand, and Thomas took my other, soon everyone had their hands linked as I continued._  
 _The pain is unbearable_  
 _Taken from this world so unstable_  
 _Always to be remembered_  
 _In our hearts you’ll stay forever_  
 _As I began the last chorus, Marcus and John led everyone in to join._  
 _With the face of an angel_  
 _Taken from this world too soon_  
 _With the heart of a saint_  
 _Lifting our hearts from the gloom_  
 _This boy had a soul to be blessed_  
 _Today we lay him here to rest_  
 _Carried on by his one true love_  
 _As he’s watching down from high above"_

And then it was over.


End file.
